TDI: Endgame pt1, The Second War
by Kamari Turen
Summary: Sequel to the Hunted. Six months after the war with Dorian, a new threat arrives, this one intent on finishing the job Dorian started. What other surprises lay in store for the campers as they begin the Second War? Read to find out.
1. New Beginnings

Gwen waited in the living room as Trent finished getting ready for the concert they were attending with Duncan. Six months had passed since the war with the psychotic Dorian McGraver III, who had been intent on killing Gwen and her friends. Though Gwen had seen Dorian die she still could not shake the feeling of uneasiness she had felt since meeting Dorian. She still felt threatened, a feeling that just didn't seem to want to dislodge itself from her soul. She couldn't figure out exactly why she was struggling to escape the memories of the encounter; perhaps it had something to do with her own death during the conflict. Dying and coming back tends to have that effect on people. Regardless, Gwen had more important things to look forward to, namely the concert she would be attending tomorrow with two of her favorite people on Earth.

"Ready to go honey?" Trent asked, his voice bringing Gwen back to reality.

"I've been waiting for you." Gwen replied with a sly smile. "You take too long to get ready."

Trent smiled at his wife. He knew she was teasing him to lighten the mood. He had seen the darkness that lay behind her eyes, and knew she was still feeling the effects of their recent ordeal. He did not have an answer as to how he could help her and he hoped the concert would take her mind off the recent past.

They headed out to the gas station where they were meeting Duncan. He was coming alone, as his wife, Courtney, was too busy to make it. Given this, Gwen and Trent were surprised to find Courtney waiting with her husband.

"Hey, Court I thought you weren't gonna come." said Trent as he and Gwen approached.

"Nice to see you too, Trent." Courtney replied, coolly. Trent's eyes widened. Courtney wasn't usually so abrupt.

Courtney smiled and said, "I got some time off. Figured I'd come see you guys off."

Trent sighed, and Gwen and Duncan laughed. It was obvious that Gwen had been faking her surprise; she had known Courtney was going to be there. Trent glared at his wife and Gwen slugged him in the shoulder.

"Well we better get going." said Duncan. "I want to get there before all the good camping spots are taken." The others nodded in agreement.

"Have fun honey." Courtney said, kissing Duncan. She looked at Gwen and said, "Please don't let him get into too much trouble." Gwen smiled and Duncan rolled his eyes. He knew Courtney's intentions were good and, given everything that had happened, entirely justified. Still he found her mothering slightly annoying.

They waved goodbye to Courtney and took off. Once they had gotten a few miles down the road Gwen asked Duncan a burning question. "So, who're we gonna see?" Duncan had not told them who was playing this show, despite the fact that he had invited the others two weeks earlier.

"Oh, you're gonna love this." Duncan replied with an evil grin. "We're gonna see the Agonist, In This Moment, Killswitch Engage, and motherfucking Mastodon."

"Nice!" said Trent. "I didn't even know they were all on tour together."

"Yeah well, it was actually Court who found out." said Duncan. "I had no idea either."

"Well it should be good." said Gwen, staring out the window.

The following night as they headed back to the campground following the concert, Duncan was ecstatic. "Fuck that was a great show!" he shouted, punching the air. Gwen and Trent smiled and nodded in agreement. It was the most fun any of them had had in months and they were not about to let the euphoria die.

They arrived back at their camp and Duncan broke into the beers. After a half an hour Gwen got up and headed for the tent. "I'm going to bed." she said, yawning.

"Okay, night honey." said Trent getting up to give her a kiss. Gwen smiled at them and headed into the tent. Trent sat back down and Duncan offered him another beer. They sat in silence for a moment before Duncan spoke.

"She's not doing so well is she?" he asked. "I can see it in both of your eyes, somethings bothering Gwen, isn't it?"

Trent hesitated before replying. "Yeah, she's still dealing with, you know, the shit that happened six months ago." He sighed. "I don't know what to do for her, I can't make the bad dreams go away, but it kills me to see her suffer like this."

"Well, I might have a solution." said Duncan. "We all need a new beginning after that war and I think I know how to get it." He paused, but Trent said nothing. Duncan continued, "see I think we should form a band, as a way to release the negative feelings and whatever. I mean, I know you got your solo thing, but I think if a bunch of us got together and just wrote some shit it would lift the weight off all our shoulders." He stopped waiting for Trent's reaction.

Trent nodded and said, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea. But we gotta do it soon before the darkness takes over again."

Duncan nodded and lit a cigarette. "I thought you quit?" Trent said.

"I did, but the stress of the war made me start up again." said Duncan. "You want one?"

Trent nodded and he and Duncan turned the conversation back to the concert.

The next morning, as they packed up Gwen brought up Duncan's idea. "I heard you guys last night, talking about forming a band." she said casually. Trent and Duncan glanced at each other. "You were intending to count me in on this right?" Gwen asked with a grin.

"Yes, of course." said Duncan, looking right at her.

"Good." said Gwen. "But don't forget, we have something to do before we start this band."

"We do?" asked Trent, a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes!" said Gwen, almost shouting. Trent and Duncan continued to look puzzled. Gwen rolled her eyes, "Owen and Izzy's wedding you fucking idiots!" she snapped.

Understanding hit Trent and Duncan like a ton of bricks. "Shit." said Duncan. "How could we have forgotten that?" Gwen glared at them.

"I still can't believe their actually getting hitched." said Duncan.

"Well like you said last night, we all need new beginnings." said Trent.

**A/N: And there you go. Chapter 1 of the sequel. Now, before I continue I gotta take care of the usual shit. TDI is not mine, it is the property of Teletoon Inc, and blah, blah, blah. You guys know this already, right? Anyway, like the Hunted there will be some OCs, who are obviously mine and you may be surprised by who a few of them are. Oh, and, as I promised, this will be better than its predecessor.**


	2. The Wedding

Two weeks later, Gwen and Trent found themselves once again in the presence of their former TDI opponents and closest friends. They hadn't seen most of the others in six months and Gwen had been looking forward to this day ever since Owen and Izzy had announced their engagement at the celebration party following Dorian's defeat. Everyone was there, Duncan, Courtney, Geoff, Bridgette, Noah, Eva, Ezekiel, Cody, Beth, Tyler, Lindsey, Heather, Justin, LeShawna, Harold, Katie, Sadie, Chris, Chef Hatchet, D.J., and of course Owen and Izzy. Abigail Locke daughter of Thomas Locke, who had helped defeat Dorian, was also present, as were family members of both Owen and Izzy. Geoff was serving as Owen's best man and Justin, Cody, Tyler, and Noah were serving as the groomsmen. Eva would be Izzy's matron of honor and Bridgette, Katie, Sadie, and Gwen would be the bridesmaids.

After hours of preparation, the wedding finally began. Geoff and Eva entered first, followed by the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Owen entered next and was followed by Izzy and her father. The priest stood and raised his hands in greeting.

"If you would all please stand." he said. "We are gathered here today to bare witness to the joining of these two beautiful souls." The crowd clapped and cheered.

"Yeah, way to go Owen!" Duncan shouted from the audience. Owen smiled and nodded.

After the crowd had calmed down, the priest turned to Owen and Izzy. He looked at Izzy first and asked, "Do you, Isabella Marie Sharpe take Owen Michael Dockins to be your loftily wedded husband in good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." whispered Izzy, staring into Owen's eyes.

The priest then looked at Owen and asked, "And do you Owen Michael Dockins take Isabella Marie Sharpe to be your loftily wedded wife in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." said Owen, staring back into Izzy's eyes.

The priest then turned back to the audience and said, "These vows represent a sacred union between these two souls. If anyone here sees any reason why these two should not be joined than speak now or forever hold your peace."

No one moved or spoke, so the priest turned back to Owen and Izzy and said, "Then, by the power vested in me by the province of Ontario I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Owen leaned forward and kissed Izzy, while the audience erupted in cheers.

Owen and Izzy turned to the gathering beaming and walked back up the aisle together. The groomsmen and bridesmaids followed them out, Geoff stopping to address the others. "There are refreshments and cake downstairs. You're all welcome to join us. Thanks for coming."

An hour later, the celebration was in full swing. Geoff stood and held his glass aloft. The room fell silent and Geoff began to speak. "I'd just like to say a few words before we continue." he began. "When I first met Owen back at Camp Wawanakwa I knew he was a guy I could be friends with. He was boisterous, he was loud and he loved to party. It was like we were brothers who were meeting for the first time. The more I got to know him, the more I realized that there was much more to Owen than just farts and and an iron stomach. He is a loyal friend, a tough competitor, and an excellent lover. When he met Izzy, I knew they would be together forever and there is no one on this earth or any other who completes Owen better than Izzy. You were made for each other and I wish you both the best of luck in your life together. You bring the light to our family and so I salute you and offer my congratulations. To Owen and Izzy."

"To Owen and Izzy!" the others echoed.

"I would like to add one more thing." said Eva. "Insanity defines Izzy, but when she's with Owen she somehow stays grounded. Geoff is right you were made for each other and I hope you have a wonderful life together."

Izzy then stood and said, "Thank you all so much. This day could not have gone any better. I am so glad that you were all here to celebrate with Owen and I."

"You didn't think any of us would actually have missed this, did you?" asked Cody.

"Well maybe you." joked Owen. "No, seriously, we knew you'd all be here. Cause Izzy would have killed you if didn't show."

"That is not funny dude!" said Tyler, though he couldn't keep himself from smiling.

Owen shrugged. "Let's get back to the party." he said, after a moments silence.

A short time later Izzy tossed her bouquet of flowers, which was caught by LeShawna, much to her surprise.

"Alright LeShawna!" Trent shouted. "Looks like you and Harold are next." Harold smirked and glanced at LeShawna who smiled back.

Several hours later, as the party began to wind down, Duncan went outside for a smoke. He was joined a few minutes later by Gwen, who was looking paler than usual. "Gwen, you okay?" Duncan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Gwen mumbled. Suddenly she staggered and collapsed.

"Gwen?" Duncan asked. He knelt beside her and rolled her over. "Gwen, are sure you're-" His eyes widened in horror, Gwen was unconscious and blood was streaming from her nose. "Oh God!" Duncan shouted. He turned towards the open doors and shouted, "Someone call 911, somethings wrong with Gwen."

**A/N: Okay, just a couple of notes on this chapter. First, I know the wedding ceremony was a little short and that there should have been an exchanging of vows and all that, but I'm not very good at writing this kind of stuff. Second, I just made up the middle and last names, since the only characters whose last names have actually been revealed on the show are Chris, Harold, and Cody. I hope you like the names, if not, too bad cuz I ain't changin' 'em now. And finally, yes, the problems for the campers are going to start this early in the fic. You got a problem with that, too bad.**


	3. A New Enemy

It was not the way the wedding was supposed to end, but there wasn't much Izzy could do about that now. Besides, she had more pressing issues on her mind at the moment. It had been four hours since Gwen had collapsed and the campers found themselves back at the last place any of them wanted to be. The hospital that had been their home the last time they had all been in Toronto had been completely rebuilt in the six months since it had been burned to the ground by Dorian's agents. It was as though there had never been a fire in the first place.

Gwen lay in the room that had been occupied by several of her friends previously. She was hooked up to several machines and was still unconscious. The other campers were gathered in the waiting room, many of them still dressed in their wedding clothes. They still had no news on Gwen's condition or what had happened to her in the first place. Trent was beginning to lose his patients.

"Ugh, what the fuck is taking so long?" he snarled.

"Trent, you gotta stay calm dude." said Cody. "Their probably testing everything to rule stuff out or something."

Trent glared at Cody before exploding. "How dare you tell me to be calm, you little twit! Gwen's my wife and she could be dying and you want me to stay calm? Fuck you! We don't have David Luminous' protection anymore."

"Trent get a hold of yourself man." said Chef. "The doctors are gonna do everything they can for Gwen and we're all here for you. But you can't push us all away. Control your temper alright?"

Trent took a deep, steadying breath and relaxed. "Sorry." he said, looking at Cody. "I didn't mean to go off like that, it's just, I can't stand to see Gwen this way."

At that moment a nurse, the same one they'd come to know six months ago, entered the waiting room. She looked around for a moment before walking up to Trent.

"How is she?" Trent asked, a worried look on his face.

"She's stable." the nurse replied. "She's still unconscious, but that's to be expected."

"What exactly does that mean?" asked Bridgette.

The nurse looked at Bridgette a moment before answering. "She had an aneurysm. Apparently there was a clot in her brain and something caused it to burst. She will live, but there may be some brain damage."

Trent looked at the nurse in horror, he could not believe what he was hearing. It was his fault, it had to be. Ever since the war ended Gwen had been troubled by what had happened. The stress must have caused the clot without anyone knowing. Trent had tried to figure out a way to help his wife, but he hadn't been able to come up with an answer, and now it may be too late. Trent looked at the others before turning and running from the hospital.

He ran towards the outskirts of town where the bridge that lead to Dorian's old compound was. Tears stung his eyes and streamed down his face as he ran. He wanted to escape the pain, the horror of what he had just learned, to be somewhere where he could be alone. He reached the bridge and came to a stop. Looking over the edge he saw the raging water below and knew this was the only way, but before he could jump he heard his name.

"TRENT! What the hell are you doing?" came Duncan's voice.

Trent looked to his right and saw Duncan, Chef, Bridgette, LeShawna, and Beth. They were looking at him with a mixture of horror and surprise.

"Get the fuck down from there, you idiot." snapped Chef. Reluctantly Trent obeyed.

"Are you crazy?" asked LeShawna. "Why were you up there?"

"I-I-" Trent stammered, not entirely sure how to answer. What had he been doing up on the bridge? Was he really going to jump? "I think I was going to jump." he finally answered.

"Boy, you've gone completely off your nut." said Chef.

"Again." Duncan added.

"What were you thinking?" asked Bridgette. "Your answer to finding out Gwen's condition is to kill yourself? She needs you."

"But it's my fault she's like this." said Trent. "She's been messed up ever since the war and I didn't do anything to help her."

"How is that your fault?" Duncan asked staring at his friend in surprise. "You weren't the one who inflicted those horrors on Gwen or anyone else, Dorian did. You can't blame yourself."

"But-" Trent began, but Beth cut him off.

"But nothing Trent." she said. "Duncan's right, it's not your fault. Gwen may have been struggling to get over the war, but no one knew she had a clot in her brain. How could you have known that? You've always been there for Gwen before, don't abandon her now because of misplaced guilt. And like Chef said, we'll all be there for you, you know that. We're a family, remember?"

Trent looked at them a moment before answering. "Yes, I remember." he said. "I just got so overwhelmed by the news that I wasn't thinking straight."

"You got that right." Duncan muttered as they headed back to the hospital. "Jumping off a bridge, fucking insane."

Two days later Gwen was still in a coma. Trent spent every minute by her side waiting for her to wake up. Every so often she would give a twitch, like she was dreaming, but she did not wake. The others dropped by periodically to check on them, and some of them stayed for a while. Owen and Izzy had postponed their honeymoon in order to support Trent. The whole thing felt like some horrible deja vu, like they were all reliving an old nightmare, only it was Gwen in the coma, not Izzy. Finally, on the third day following the wedding Gwen awoke, snapping back to reality with a horrified gasp.

"Gwen?" a surprised Trent asked, but Gwen did not answer.

She looked wildly around the room, her eyes glazed over and wide with fear. After a moment she focused on Trent and screamed.

"Gwen, Gwen what's wrong?" Trent asked, terrified.

"Trent, I saw him, I saw him Trent. He's coming for us." Gwen said, terror etched on her pale face.

"Who? Who did you see?" Trent asked, holding his wife and staring her in the eyes.

"The new enemy" Gwen breathed in a terrified whisper. "The new enemy, he's coming to kill us, all of us."

**A/N: Yeah, there's gonna be a new enemy and the campers are going to have to fight him. There is a reason this fic is called the Second War. Also, where the heck are my reviews? You guys were so good about that with the Hunted, so what happened? I like hearing from all of you, it helps with the writing process. If you're waiting for more chapters I can respect that, but there's three up now, that should be enough for reviews. But do what you want, you're the ones reading this thing, not me. Still, a review or two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.**


	4. The Second War

"It was a dream, it has to be." said Heather. "She was in a coma, and sometimes people see weird shit when their out like that."

"But, if it was a dream, why was Gwen so freaked out?" Lindsey asked. "I mean sure, dreams can be scary, but this was fear that comes from reality."

"I don't know Lindsey, maybe it was a really vivid dream." said Heather.

They were sitting outside the hospital an hour after Gwen's awakening. Beth, Cody, Tyler, and Justin were with them and they were discussing Gwen's cryptic vision. Heather was convinced it had just been a dream, but the others were not so certain.

"I agree with Lindsey." said Beth. "From what Trent said, it sounds like Gwen actually saw something."

"Of course you two agree." Heather snapped, rolling her eyes.

"Look, let's say it was just a dream." said Tyler. "That doesn't explain why Gwen was freaked. I mean, I've had bad dreams before but they never freaked me like that. Why would Gwen's dreams be any more terrible?"

"Because it wasn't a dream." said D.J. as he, Abigail, Noah, and Eva joined them.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Justin asked sceptically.

"Abigail." D.J. replied. "She's seen this kinda thing before and she knows the signs."

The others looked at Abigail, who smiled and said, "It is true, I have seen this before. My father was, aside from being an excellent hit-man, an expert on the paranormal. In certain instances, when the soul is trapped in the ether between worlds, the person to whom that soul belongs can experience visions of the future. In Gwen's case, because she had crossed over once before, it was inevitable that she would see something."

"But what does it mean?" asked Izzy as she and the others joined the conversation.

"It means we have forewarning." replied Abigail.

"Forewarning of what exactly?" asked Harold, looking at Abigail.

"Of what is to come." said Abigail. The others continued to stare at her.

Abigail sighed and continued, "Look, you remember the day we defeated Dorian?" The others all nodded. "Well, on that day after we left the battlefield, David Luminous and my father came back to me. They told me to prepare, to be ready for a greater evil than Dorian. They said there was someone out there who was an even greater threat to our safety. And they said this man would come for us six months after the war."

The others stared at Abigail in dumbfounded silence. Finally Noah spoke, "So you're telling us that there is an even greater evil out there that wants us dead and you neglected to tell us this sooner?" Abigail nodded.

"And you think the man Gwen saw is this threat?" asked Chris.

"Yes." said Abigail, staring intently at Chris.

"Well, so much for ever getting to go on a honeymoon." said Owen.

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Izzy. "You think that matters now? We're all in danger of being killed and all you can think about is our goddamn honeymoon? Honestly why I chose to marry you escapes me sometimes."

"Uh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" asked Trent, causing them all to turn.

"No." Izzy and Owen said together, grinning sheepishly at him.

Trent raised his eyebrows in disbelief and then said, "She's ready to see you all now."

He lead them to Gwen's room in silence. They entered to find Gwen sitting up, her head still bandaged from the emergency surgery to reduce the swelling in her brain. She smiled weakly at them, it was obvious she was still not one-hundred percent there.

"Hey Gwen, welcome back." said Courtney. "You had us going there for a minute."

"You scared the shit out of us girl." said LeShawna. "What did I tell you about trying to escape to the afterlife again?"

"That it was rude and I shouldn't do it without telling you first." said Gwen, smiling again.

"Damn right, and don't you forget that." said LeShawna, with a smile.

"So, not to be rude or anything, but what exactly did you see in your so called vision?" asked Heather. LeShawna glared at her.

"I saw exactly what Trent told you I saw." Gwen replied. "A man, dressed all in black, who was coming to kill us."

"Did you see his face?" Katie asked, terror in her voice.

"No, he was wearing a hood, it concealed his features." said Gwen. "But he was big, bigger than Owen, D.J., or Chef and he had red eyes."

A collective shudder passed through the room at Gwen's words. Sadie gave a terrified yelp, and the color drained from Heather's face.

"But what does it all mean?" Eva asked. "Why is this happening now and why is it happening to us, again?"

"I don't know Eva." Gwen replied. "I don't know what it means."

"It means," said Abigail, from the back of the room, "the second war is about to begin."

The others looked at her in horror. This could not be happening, not again, not now. They had just escaped the clutches of doom once and now it was all happening again. Only this time it was going to be much, much worse.


	5. The Assassins Return

Three days later, Gwen was discharged from the hospital. The doctor wanted to keep her longer, but she could not stand to be there any longer. The realization that there was indeed a new threat seemed to have brought her out of her self induced darkness. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the others. Gwen's vision and Abigail's conformation that it had been real had put the former campers into a state of unease. Only Duncan, Chef, and Izzy appeared to be unaffected by this horrific realization. Trent, in particular, was uneasy due more to the fact that it had been Gwen who had seen the threat, not so much the threat itself. He remained unconvinced that Gwen experiencing the vision was a good thing and he feared she would suffer another aneurysm.

"I just don't think she should be exerting herself yet." Trent said, the day after Gwen was discharged. He was at Drama talking with LeShawna and Harold, neither of whom seemed to agree with him.

"I understand what you're saying Trent." said Harold. "But you can't control her. If Gwen feels she can go than you're just gonna have to let her."

Trent glared at him and turned to LeShawna, hoping for some support. But she just shrugged. "Sorry sugar, but I gotta go with Harold on this. Gwen can make her own decisions."

Trent sighed and shook his head. "Fine." he said. "But if something happens to her I-" he stopped, not wanting to finish his sentence. LeShawna cocked an eyebrow, as if to say you weren't really gonna threaten us, were you?

At that moment Gwen entered and, catching sight of the other three, narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What are you three up to?" she asked, still suspicious.

"Just talking." said Trent, with a quick glance at the other two.

"Uh huh, sure." said Gwen, her voice thick with skepticism. "You were talking about me, weren't you?"

"So what if we were?" Harold asked, bracing for the blow he was sure would come.

But Gwen simply smiled. Harold gave her a look of mingled relief and surprise. Was she really not going to hit him? What had happened to her in that coma?

"Look, we're sorry. We didn't mean to go behind your back." said LeShawna.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter." replied Gwen. "I know Trent thinks I should have stayed at the hospital for a couple more days and he's entitled to his opinion. But I can't just sit around, not now that we have a new enemy to deal with. Speaking of which, Abigail has some news, everyone's meeting at her place."

The other three looked at her in surprise. How could Abigail have news already? They had just found out about the man in black three days ago and he hadn't even arrived yet, what could possibly have occurred in such a short time span?

Gwen, Trent, Harold, and LeShawna arrived at Abigail's secret hideout, to find the rest of the gang waiting for them.

"There you guys are." said Chris. "What took you so long?"

"We were being interrogated." Trent said darkly, glancing at his wife. Chris raised his eyebrows, but didn't ask.

"So, Gwen said you had news." said Harold, attempting to draw the conversation back towards the matter at hand.

"Yes." said Abigail, getting to her feet. The others waited, but Abigail did not elaborate.

"And?" said Harold, "What would this news be?"

Abigail looked at him a moment before answering. "Well, I realized that we would need help to deal with this new threat. So I contacted David Luminous and asked him for some advice. He's good at figuring out how to bring evil down, seeing as that's part of his job description."

"Wait, did you say you contacted Luminous?" asked Ezekiel in shock.

"Yes, and this is a problem why?" asked Abigail.

"It's just, do we really want to deal with him again?" Ezekiel asked. "I mean, won't he want some kind of payment and don't we kinda already owe him for last time, eh?"

"It is true that he will ask for payment, yes." said Abigail. "But as far as last time, that debt has already been payed and besides, Luminous offers us an insight we would otherwise not have."

"Okay, so what advice did he give us?" asked Sadie.

"He told us we would need more allies if we were to stand a chance at winning this second war." Abigail replied.

"Gee that's helpful." said Noah. "And who exactly are these allies supposed to be?"

"They're a couple of old friends." Abigail replied, with a smile.

"You don't mean Dorian and your father, do you?" asked Cody, horror in his voice.

"No Cody, Dorian and Thomas will not be rejoining you." said a familiar voice from the shadows behind Abigail. "However, my sister and I will be." And with that Brendan and Aneka DuVall stepped into the light.

**A/N: Oh yeah, I brought the assassins back. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did ya? For those of you who haven't read the previous fic, this is significant because...wait, I'm not gonna say that. If you want to know why the assassins return is significant, read the previous fic. Which brings me to question, if you haven't read the Hunted, why the hell are you reading this fic? It's a SEQUEL, you're not supposed to read it first! Anyway, that's chapter 5, hope you enjoyed it.**


	6. The Allience

The campers stared in horror at what they were seeing. It was not possible, it could not be possible. The assassins who had served Dorian could not possibly be back among the living, they could not be the only answer.

"Is this a fucking joke?" Duncan asked, his voice disgusted.

Abigail merely stared at him, as did the DuValls. None of them seemed to be the least bit surprised by the campers reaction.

"No, Duncan, this is not a joke." Abigail replied with another smile.

"You've gone completely off your goddamn nut." Duncan shouted. "They're our fucking enemies, we can't trust them and I'm thinking we can't trust you either."

"Duncan, please listen-" Abigail began, but Geoff cut her off.

"No Abigail, you listen." he snapped. "What the hell were you thinking when you went to Luminous? Duncan's right, you have gone completely insane. You're crazier than your father was. There is no way they're gonna help us."

"Ah, but that would be where you are wrong Geoff." Brendan said with a smirk, obviously enjoying the turmoil his return had caused. "You do need us and we will help you."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna take your word for it." scoffed Geoff.

"You would be wise to listen." said Aneka. "We are going to help you whether you trust us or not. We have no choice in the matter."

"What do you mean you have no choice?" asked Gwen, confused.

"Abigail came to Luminous and asked to speak with us." said Brendan. "She knew you needed allies and she knew my sister and I were seeking a chance at redemption. Luminous agreed to put our souls back if we agreed to help you with your new threat. It is part of the deal, as long as we fight for the side of good and give you aid, we get another chance at life. So accept the help or not, but we will be there, and you can't do a damn thing about it."

Gwen let out a long breath and looked at the assassins. "Okay, we'll accept your help, but we're in charge, got it?" Brendan nodded.

A cry of outrage arose from the other campers at Gwen's declaration. Duncan stared at her in horror, Trent turned his back towards her and Chef growled, "Are you fucking nuts?"

"I think the aneurysm damaged her brain." Heather muttered, glaring at Gwen.

"Gwen you can't be serious? We can't trust them." Beth pleaded.

"I think we should take a re-vote on who gets to be in charge." said Noah, a disgusted look on his face. Several of the others muttered in agreement.

"Look, maybe Gwen's right?" D.J. suggested, which only increased the anger of the others who began shouting at D.J. too.

Finally Gwen had had enough. "ALRIGHT, EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she shouted, bringing an abrupt silence. "Look, I realize most of you don't agree with this decision. I also realize you don't trust the DuValls, but we don't seem to have choice, at least not one that I can see. So either we form an alliance with Brendan and Aneka or we roll over and die. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm partial to option number one. If any of you have another option, that doesn't involve killing, then I'd be delighted to hear it, otherwise shut up and accept it."

She fell silent and for a long moment no one spoke or moved. Finally Aneka broke the silence. "Look, I realize why you don't trust us and, given the past, your mistrust is entirely justified, but you must understand that we really are here to help."

Duncan stared into Aneka's eyes for a moment before answering. "Alright we'll form an alliance, but until I see proof that you've changed, you're still enemies and I will kill you if you try anything funny."

"Understood." said Aneka, inclining her head and smiling.

"Wait, I thought you couldn't physically speak?" Duncan asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"That was before I died." Aneka replied. "Remember, returning a soul to it's body heals all wounds, no matter how long before death they occurred."

Duncan nodded and left the house. Most of the others followed. Soon only Gwen, Abigail, and the DuValls were left. As they turned to leave, Gwen stopped. "Just so we're clear, I don't trust you yet either. I only stood up for you so we could get on with this shit. But I need proof too, so until I get it, consider us disgruntled acquaintances at best."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." said Brendan, with another sly smirk.

"Get bent." snapped Gwen as she left the house.

**A/N: So, there you go. The assassins are back and they will be playing a much bigger role in this fic than they did in The Hunted. In fact, you may be surprised just how big a role they play, but you're gonna have to come back to find out.**


	7. Isolation

The following day, Gwen awoke to find Trent had already left. They were staying at the hotel they had stayed at the last time they had been in Toronto. The previous night had not been pleasant, Trent was furious that Gwen had supported the DuValls. She had tried to explain her reasoning, but Trent would have none of it. She made her way downstairs for some breakfast and found Geoff, Bridgette, Duncan, Courtney, and Chef talking in low voices. They glared at her as she entered the breakfast room, and minutes later got up and left. Apparently they were still pissed at her too. Gwen could not honestly blame her friends for being upset, but they seemed to be personally blaming her, like it was her fault the DuValls were back. Gwen had experienced this kind of hatred and isolation before, back during TDA when she broke up with Trent. Still, she could not pretend that this didn't hurt her, it wasn't her fault after all.

At that moment Abigail entered and sat down across the table from Gwen. "So, still getting the cold shoulder too, huh?" she asked, casually.

Gwen looked up from her coffee and sighed. "Yeah." she answered. "I understand why they're pissed, but it isn't my fault. I didn't bring the DuValls back." She paused and glanced at Abigail, who was staring at her intently. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming you." Gwen added, hastily. "I just want to know what I did wrong. You and I both know there is no other choice here, so why are we being burned for accepting reality?"

Abigail smiled and gave an understanding nod. "They're upset because I brought an old enemy back into their midst. I take full responsibility for opening that can of worms, but I had no other choice. We need the help and Luminous was happy to oblige. The others simply don't yet see the necessity of having the DuVall's help, and I've learned that when people are encountered by something they don't understand they either hate it or fear it. You just have to give them time Gwen, they'll come around. And don't worry about me, I'll be okay."

Gwen nodded and got up. After hesitating a moment, she left the breakfast room. Instead of returning to her room she chose to go for a walk. The conversation with Abigail had helped some, but she was still unsure if she wanted to face the others yet. It hurt her deeply to isolate herself, but Abigail was right, the others just needed some time to accept the truth. Everything would be back to normal in a couple days.

Unfortunately, Gwen's assumption could not have possibly been more wrong. A week later, the other campers were still not speaking to her, and Gwen was beginning to wonder if they would ever tolerate her presence again. She was becoming throughly depressed and the thought of suicide entered her mind more than once. What hurt the most was Trent's utter disgust with her. He had gotten his own room and spent virtually the entire day away from the hotel. Gwen had expected that he would have been the first to relent and welcome her back, but Trent seemed to be the one least likely to forgive her. Abigail was proving to be less than helpful, as she was convinced that it was only a matter of time before they came around. And the DuValls were no where to be seen, they seemed to sense it was best to lay low for the moment. There was, however one other who had Gwen's back, even if she didn't yet know it.

A week and a half after the DuValls return, Gwen found herself sitting in the park a few blocks from the hotel, alone as usual. She was staring off into space when she noticed D.J. approaching her. _Great._ she thought. _Just what I need, one of my former friends coming to drive the stake a little deeper._

But D.J. did not seem to be there for an insult session. Instead, he sat down next to Gwen and put his arm around her shoulder. Gwen flinched at his touch, expecting pain, but none came. She looked up at him and saw that he was smiling. "Hey Gwen." he said, before she could speak.

"Uh, hey?" Gwen said, uncertainly, watching him intently for some sign this was a trick. But D.J. only continued to smile.

"Listen Gwen." D.J. said. "I just want you to know that I got your back on this whole DuVall alliance thing. I think you made the right choice and I support you. We need help and they can give it to us. Besides, you've never led us astray before, so who am I to question you?"

Gwen stared at D.J. in dumbfounded silence. She could not think of a way to respond to this. Finally she managed to choke out "Thanks, D.J."

"No problem." he said. "We should get back to the hot-Gwen are you okay?" Gwen was crying and D.J. was taken aback by this sudden emotionally shift. "Gwen what's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at him again, sniffing. "N-nothing." she choked.

"Come on Gwen, I'm not stupid. Something is obviously bothering you." said D.J.

"It-it's just the others." Gwen choked again. "They won't talk to me and T-Trent hates me now. I only did what was necessary to assure our safety and now I'm enemy number one. What's the point of even being here if all my friends are gonna turn on me?"

D.J. took her in his massive arms and held her close. "Don't say things like that." he said. "The others don't hate you, they just need some time. And Trent certainly doesn't hate you. He's just feeling a little betrayed right now."

"Betrayed?" Gwen asked. "But it isn't my fault. And how much more time do they need? It's been almost two weeks."

"I know." said D.J. "Come on, let's go back to the hotel." Gwen hesitated, but D.J. took her hand. "Don't worry, we're gonna fix this." he reassured her. "It's time things were set right."

They headed back to the hotel and entered the bar, where the others were gathered. Trent looked up as D.J. and Gwen entered and his expression darkened. The others looked around as well, hatred on all of their faces.

"D.J., what the fuck man?" Duncan asked. "I thought you were on our side?"

"Yeah, dude, why'd you bring that little traitor here?" asked Tyler, glaring at Gwen.

"Because, she's part of this family, and it's time you all remembered that." D.J. said calmly.

"She ain't a part of any family anymore." Trent snarled. "She gave up that right when she agreed to work with those scumbag assassins."

"Like hell she did." D.J retorted. "You're just pissed because she somehow betrayed you."

"Damn right she betrayed me!" Trent shot back. "She betrayed us all. Damn it D.J. she sided with the enemy."

"No, she did what she thought was best." D.J. said, his voice growing louder with every word. "And you cast her out like she was a leper. What the fuck kind of family are you? You would betray one of your own, when all she wants is to ensure your safety? Well fuck that! I don't accept that bullshit. Gwen has always had our best interests at heart, she's always been there for all of us, and this is how you repay her? Well then you deserve whatever hell is coming for you, because you certainly haven't earned the help we've been given. We're a family goddamn it! And we will act like one or so help me I'll be the one you all have to fear, got that motherfuckers?"

The others stood in stunned silence. Never before had they seen D.J. go off like that. They hadn't known it was even possible for D.J. to explode with such force. Finally, after a quick glance around the room, Duncan approached D.J., his head bowed in reverence. "Alright." he said. "We're sorry. It was wrong of us to expel Gwen and we apologize, okay?"

D.J. and Gwen both nodded, Gwen still stunned just like the others. Trent approached her and took her in his arms. "I am so sorry." he whispered. "I never meant to hurt you. I-" but Gwen cut him off. "I know." she whispered. "I understand and I forgive."

"Well now that that's over." said Izzy, turning the attention of the group to her. "I heard something about forming a band, is that true?"


	8. The Forming of the Reckoning

Having settled their dispute with Gwen over the alliance with the DuValls, relief was paramount among the campers, and they were finally able to get back to business. Gwen had completely forgotten about Duncan's idea to form a band, but now that Izzy had brought it up, it was all she could think about. The day after being welcomed back into the group, Gwen got together with Duncan, Trent, and Izzy to discuss the band plans.

"I think we should do it." Izzy said, enthusiastically.

"I don't know Izzy, now doesn't really seem like the best time to start a band." said Trent.

"Oh come on dude!" said Duncan. "You were all for this idea when I brought it up after the concert. What changed?"

"Well, back at the concert we weren't in danger from some new psychopath." said Trent.

"Sorry honey, but that's not a good excuse." said Gwen, smiling at her husband.

"Uh, why not?" Trent asked, confused.

"Well, for starters, we don't know exactly when this new enemy is gonna show up." Gwen replied. "And second, you did agree to this."

Trent sighed. He knew Gwen was right and he was too happy to have her back to argue with her now. So, he relented, "Alright, we'll do it now. But who else is gonna be in this thing?"

"Well, me for starters." said Izzy, matter of factly.

"And what instrument can you play?" Duncan asked, skeptically.

"Drums." Izzy replied. "And I'm damn good too."

Duncan nodded and said, "Alright, you're in. Trent you can play guitar, obviously and I'll do bass. Gwen, how bout you?"

"I guess I could sing" Gwen said, shrugging.

"Okay, good." said Duncan. "So now all we need is another guitarist, a keyboardist, and some additional percussion."

"So, let's ask around, see who else wants to join." said Izzy. With that the four of them set out to gather others. Izzy knew she wanted to get Owen to join, but she had no idea who the other three would be. Duncan suggested Bridgette and Geoff and Gwen suggested D.J. The others agreed and they called the four choices, asking them to meet at the park down the street.

An hour later, the eight of them met at the exact bench D.J. had found Gwen sitting on the day before. "So, what did you guys wanna talk about?" Geoff asked, looking from Gwen to Trent to Duncan to Izzy.

"Well, we were thinking about forming a band." said Duncan. "And we wanted the four of you to join it, if you're up for it?"

"Dude, that's awesome!" shouted Owen. "Of course I'll join."

"Yeah, sounds like a great idea to me." said Geoff. Bridgette nodded in agreement.

"D.J. you in?" Duncan asked, looking D.J. in the eye.

"Yeah, alright, I guess I'll join." said D.J. after a moment's hesitation.

"Okay, so what do you guys need us to do?" asked Owen.

"I'll do turntables." said D.J., before Duncan could answer. "And anything else you need me to do, too."

"Cool." said Duncan. "We need another guitarist, a keyboardist, and someone to do random percussion. What do you think?"

"I can get the other guitar." said Geoff. "And Bridge has mad keyboard skills." Bridgette nodded again, to show she accepted her position.

"I guess I'll be the percussion bitch then." said Owen with a shrug.

"Okay all we need now is a name." said Trent. "Any ideas?"

"I got one, and feel free to mock it, but I think it's good." said Izzy. The others waited, and after a moment Izzy informed them. "I think we she call ourselves the Reckoning, you know, after that virus Dorian had."

The others looked at her uncertainly. Was she serious, did she actually want to name their band after a virus that would have wiped out the human population? It did seem like something Izzy would do. "You know what?" said Duncan. "I like it. It strikes fear, you know? And it is along the lines I was thinking."

"Okay, we'll be the Reckoning." said Gwen. "May we bring an end to those who would do us harm."

**A/N: Okay, so I know this chapter was kind of cheesey and that it diverged from the main plotline of the story, but I like to shake things up once in awhile. I find that if a story sticks solely to its main plot, things can sometimes get a little boring, so every so often it's good to throw in a chapter or two that makes the reader question the author's sanity. For those of you who would rather stick with the main plot, don't worry, we'll be getting back to it soon enough. So for now just read and enjoy.**


	9. The Man in Black

Izzy's choice for the band name would prove to be more ominous than she could have predicted. Over the next several days, the campers spent their time preparing for the arrival of their new enemy. The members of the Reckoning also began working on material for their first album. Their first song, titled _The Warrior_, would be a tribute to Thomas Locke, who helped them defeat Dorian. The campers worked tenuously with the DuValls and Abigail, who many of them still did not trust. On the fifth day following the formation of the band, the campers sat down for a meal following an exhausting day of training.

"Boy, am I ever glad that's over." Owen sighed. "What a workout."

"Well, you really could use it, you know?" said Eva, as she sat down next to him.

"Hey, leave my husband alone." Izzy snapped, jokingly, as she sat down on Owen's other side. "I happen to like his huskiness. He makes a nice pillow." She flashed a teasing grin at Owen, who smiled back.

"Wow, Iz, TMI." said Sadie. "We really didn't need to know that." Izzy shrugged.

"So, I think we should work on battle strategies some more tomorrow." said Chef.

"Could we please not talk about this right now?" asked Beth.

"Yeah, Chef, can't we just eat dinner in silence for once?" Lindsey pleaded.

Chef shrugged. "Your funeral" he muttered, so the others couldn't hear him.

An hour and a half later, the campers started drifting off towards their rooms. Trent and Gwen headed up first, as Gwen was complaining of a headache. They entered their room and Gwen headed straight for the bed. Trent went and changed before joining her. Several hours later, Gwen snapped awake, screaming in terror. The noise roused Trent, who stared at his trembling wife in shock.

"Gwen, Gwen what is it? What's wrong?" Trent asked, taking hold of her.

Gwen looked into Trent's eyes and shuddered. "He's here. The man in black, he's finally here." she breathed, her voice a whisper.

Trent looked into her eyes and knew she wasn't lying. "Oh, God." he said, the color draining from his face. "We have to warn the others."

Just then there was knock at the door, making them both jump. "Trent, everything okay in there? We heard screaming." came Justin's voice from the other side of the door. Trent breathed a sigh of relief and answered the door. Justin was not the only one in the hall, he had been joined by all of the others, including Abigail and the DuValls. Trent motioned for them to enter and they obeyed.

"What's going on, Trent?" Noah asked. "What was that screaming about?"

"Gwen had another vision." Trent replied. "She says he's here, the man in black."

The others stared at him, hardly daring to believe what they were hearing. It could not be true, they were not ready for this. "How can we be sure it wasn't just a dream?" Heather asked.

"You raised that question last time and it was a real vision then, why should we doubt Gwen now?" Ezekiel asked.

Heather shrugged, unable to come up with a satisfactory answer.

"Look, either it's a dream or it's not, that doesn't change anything." said Tyler. "We knew this was coming so let's get the fuck out of here."

Just then there was a thud at the window. Two seconds later the window exploded and a man in a black hood stood in the room, staring at the campers. The man lowered his hood, revealing a face that was horribly scared on the right side. The man smiled a twisted smile and let out a hollow, bone chilling laugh. "At last, I meet the campers of Total Drama Island." he said, in a low, raspy voice. "I am Victor Verizzano and I have been wanting to meet you for a vary long time."

"You won't touch them Verizzano." Aneka snarled, drawing her guns and aiming them at Victor's head.

"Ah, Miss DuVall, it has been too long." Victor said, smiling at Aneka. "I heard you passed on, but I can't say I'm surprised to see you here. Luminous is always thinking, isn't he? Still, he won't get the best of me this time. I see your brother and the lovely Miss Locke are here too, how charming. I can send you all to the grave together."

"Blow it out your ass Verizzano." snapped Abigail.

"Oh, such venom." said Victor. "But you should know that those who play with venom will likely get bitten!" With that, he unleashed a flurry of poison filled needles, sending them flying in every direction.

"Everybody down!" Aneka shouted, grabbing Courtney and throwing her to the floor. The others dropped, but Heather wasn't quite fast enough. She let out a scream of pain as two of the needles buried themselves in her chest.

"HEATHER!" Justin shouted, crawling over to her. He looked up to see Victor preparing another attack. Suddenly, Brendan was in Victor's face and they were dueling, the way Brendan had six months earlier with Gwen.

"Everybody out!" Abigail shouted. "Justin grab Heather and watch those damn needles." Justin obeyed as did the others. They ran from the room and headed down the hall, towards the exit.

"Wait, what about Brendan!" Gwen shouted.

"He'll be fine, trust me." said Aneka. "He can take care of himself."

They headed for the park and made their way deep into its interior. Once they had found a secluded spot, they finally stopped to rest. Justin gently lay Heather on the ground and sat down beside her. Suddenly, Heather gasped and choked.

"Oh, God, she's dying." said Justin, horror on his face.

Abigail approached, kneeling next to Heather. She turned to Aneka and motioned for something. Aneka handed her what looked like some sort of suction device. With one quick tug she yanked the needles from Heather's chest and applied the device to the wounds. Heather let out another scream of pain as the device sucked the poison out of her system. Abigail then bandaged the wounds and turned to the others. At that moment, Brendan arrived. He was bloodied, but not seriously injured. Victor was no where to be seen.

"He won't be coming for us for a while." Brendan said, looking at the others.

"Uh, is anyone gonna explain what the fuck just happened?" asked Izzy. "Who the fuck was that guy, and how does he know the three of you?"

"That was Victor Verizzano, one of the deadliest assassins in the world." Abigail replied. "I suspected the threat was him, based on Gwen's description from her first vision. Victor was an associate of my father and Dorian, though I met him on a trip to Italy four years ago. He is the one who the worlds most dangerous criminals go to when their own people can't get the job done. He has powers outside the scope of mortality and he is impossibly hard to kill."

"He is also a member of the Shadow Guild, the elite assassin fraternity to which my brother and I also belong." said Aneka. "That's how we know him. He went rogue fifteen years ago, and we've been trying to kill him ever since."

"Victor makes this twenty times more dangerous, so be on your guard." said Abigail. "One false move will cost you your life."


	10. Hide and Seek

The former campers stayed in their hiding place for the rest of the night. None of them were willing to risk leaving to find somewhere else to stay. The horror had finally arrived, Gwen's vision had come true. And the campers realized that they may indeed need the help of the DuValls. None of them wanted to admit this truth, but they could no longer deny it. Verizzano was indeed far worse than Dorian had been and the more soldiers they had, the better their chances were to survive.

The following morning, Abigail woke the campers early. "Come on, time to get moving." she said, nudging D.J.'s shoulder.

"Ugh, what's going on? Where are we?" asked Lindsey, confused and sleepy.

"We're in the park." Abigail replied. "We were attacked last night by Victor Verizzano, the threat Gwen saw in her vision."

"Oh, yeah." said Lindsey, sitting up. "Is Heather okay?" she asked, remembering the poisoned needles Heather had been hit with the night before.

"Yes. She'll make a full recovery." Abigail answered, glancing over her shoulder at Heather's prone form.

By now the others were awake. "So, what's the plan?" Noah asked, looking at Abigail.

"We'll go into the forest. Head for my old cabin. We can hole up there for a few days." Abigail replied.

"And if Verizzano finds us, then what?" asked Courtney. "We can't run around the world forever. Eventually we're gonna have to fight."

"Yes." said Aneka. "We will. But for now, running is the best option. Until we know exactly what Verizzano can do, it is best not to confront him."

"I thought you knew him?" said Chris. "Or was what you told us last night all a lie?"

"No, it was the truth." said Brendan. "We do know him, but he has powers that we have never seen before. If we are to have any chance of beating him, we must study him first. Otherwise we're all dead."

"Alright, enough talking, we gotta go." said Abigail. "Justin can you carry Heather, she's not yet ready to walk on her own power."

Justin nodded and picked up Heather, who groaned, but did not protest. Abigail lead the former campers out of the city, heading for the woods. She had a cabin hidden deep in the forest, where she lived before Heather brought her back to her father, and she knew it would be safe, at least for the time being. As they moved towards the cabin, Izzy caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. It was moving fast and was headed towards the group. She was not the only one who saw it, either as Abigail and Aneka both froze, sensing the danger.

"What the hell is it?" Izzy whispered, looking uncertainly at Abigail.

"I'm not sure." Abigail replied. She tilted her head, listening for any sound that might give the creature away. After a few seconds, horrified understanding crossed her face. "Oh, God." she breathed. "It can't be."

"Abigail, what is it?" Aneka asked, glancing at the others.

"A stalker." was Abigail's response. Aneka's eyes widened and Brendan drew his blade.

"What is it?" Duncan asked, noticing the sudden tension in the air.

"A stalker." Abigail repeated. "Cyborg hunters that Verizzano created when he was still in the Shadow Guild. They exist for one purpose, to hunt and kill whatever he tells them to."

"But that means-" Duncan said, stopping in mid sentence as understanding hit him. Abigail nodded, confirming his fear.

"Let's go!" Trent shouted, before Abigail could stop him. Suddenly the stalker came crashing through the trees.

"Run!" Chef shouted. He turned to face the monstrous creature charging towards them. The stalker swung one of its massive blade-like arms at Chef's head, but he managed to duck in time. Aneka, Abigail, Brendan, and Duncan were at his side, each of them trying to find a way to strike at the stalker's exposed underside. Duncan leapt onto the creature's back and Brendan tossed him his blade. With one swift slice, Duncan severed the stalker's head, dropping it to the ground. As he did so, six more emerged from the surrounding woods.

"Shit! How many of these things are there?" Duncan asked.

"No idea." Abigail shouted back. "Doesn't matter now though, we're out numbered, time to go. Follow the others."

They ran, finally catching up to the others at Abigail's cabin. "Everybody inside!" Abigail shouted as she arrived.

"The damn door's locked." said Cody. "How're we supposed to get in?"

"Break it, damn it." snapped Duncan. Cody obeyed and they shoved their way inside.

Several hours later there had been no action from the stalkers. Suddenly, Verizzano's deep, raspy voice boomed out, shattering the silence. "I am growing tired of this game of hide and seek." he bellowed. "Why don't you come out and play a different game?"

"Shit, he found us." muttered Duncan.

"Not yet he hasn't." said Aneka. No sooner had the words escaped her lips, when Verizzano burst through the door, followed by his stalkers.

"Head for the back door." Abigail commanded. The others obeyed, only to find more stalkers waiting outside. Abigail pushed through them and headed deeper into the woods. The others followed and the stalkers pursued. They had been running for several minutes when a sickening snap echoed through the forest like a gunshot. Geoff spun and saw Bridgette lying on the ground, clutching her right leg, which was obviously broken. Chef, who was a few paces behind, saw this too, and scooped Bridgette up without missing a beat.

Several minutes later, a stalker caught up to them. It swung out at the back of the group, the blunt side of its blade connecting with Courtney's head. "COURTNEY!" Duncan screamed. He charged the stalker, but was knocked back by the force of an explosion. By the time he regained his bearings, the stalker was gone and so was Courtney. As the others regrouped it became apparent Courtney was not the only one missing. Lindsey, Katie, and Beth were also nowhere to be found.

**A/N: And that's chapter ten. How will the campers defeat Verizzano? What is his ultimate endgame? And will the others save Courtney, Beth, Lindsey and Katie before it's too late? Keep reading to find out. Oh yeah, I should mention, there's still more surprises to come.**


	11. Captured

Courtney awoke to find herself in a large circular room. The room was dark and she could not see what was around her. She was hanging by her arms, her wrists clasped in heavy manacles. _Ugh, where am I?_ she thought, shaking her head. Suddenly a pair of bright lights snapped on, throwing the room into view. Courtney glanced to her left and saw, to her horror, that she was not alone. Beth, Lindsey, and Katie were also hung by their wrists, all of them unconscious. Beth's glasses were broken and there was a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. Lindsey and Katie appeared to relatively unharmed, aside from being unconscious.

Courtney looked around the room, but there seemed to be no way in or out. She pulled against the chains holding her in place, but there was no way she would be able to break free, and even if she could she had no where to go. At that moment, Lindsey came to, her groan drawing Courtney's attention. "Huh, what's going on?" Lindsey asked, her voice groggy.

"Lindsey are you okay?" Courtney asked, looking at the blond in concern.

"Courtney?" Lindsey asked, confused. "Where are we? What's going on?"

"I don't know where we are, but I think we've been captured by Verizzano." Courtney replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Oh, God." said Lindsey. "Do you have any-?" It was at that moment Lindsey noticed Beth and Katie, causing her to stop in mid sentence. "Beth! Katie!" Lindsey cried.

"Shh. Lindsey they're just unconscious." Courtney said, reassuringly.

No sooner had she said this, when Beth and Katie both snapped back to consciousness. Both of them looked around wildly, finding Courtney and Lindsey chained on either side of them. "Where are we?" Beth asked.

"Some hideout of Verizzano's, I would assume." Courtney answered, not quite able to keep her voice level this time.

"No, that freak got us?" said Katie in shock and fear.

"Yes, Katie, I got you, as you so eloquently put it." Verizzano's voice echoed from somewhere above.

"Ugh, why?" Courtney asked, struggling against her chains. "What do you want from us?"

"Isn't it obvious what I want?" asked Verizzano. "I want your lives, I want your souls, I want to taste your blood."

"But why?" asked Beth. "What did any of us do to you?"

"That is irrelevant." replied Verizzano. "It's not about what any of you did. I am a killer, this is purely for the sport of it."

"You're sick!" Courtney shouted. "You're the embodiment of evil, and you will pay for your crimes. No matter what you do to us, our friends will bring you down in the end."

Verizzano let out a long, humorless laugh. "You think so, Courtney. You think your precious Duncan can best me? I am not Dorian McGraver, girl. I will not bend to your wishes so easily. You will find me to be a more formidable foe." There was silence following this declaration. After a moment or two Verizzano spoke again. "But if you feel so compelled to test me than let's make this interesting. Release them."

Several armed men entered the room, through a door Courtney had not been able to see before. They removed the shackles and left the room. Moments later they returned with what looked like torture equipment. Verizzano followed them in. He smiled a sinister smile at his prisoners, and motioned for his men to hook them up to the torture devices. Courtney swallowed, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. One of the men drilled electric wires into Lindsey and turned to Verizzano. With a glance at Courtney, Verizzano motioned and the man flipped a switch. Lindsey let out a scream of pain, causing the others to flinch.

Several hours later, the torture session was still in full swing. Lindsey lay crumpled in a heap in the corner, cradling her now broken right arm. Beth crouched next to her friend, and Katie sat near them. But Courtney continued to endure the torture, refusing to show Verizzano any sign of weakness. Verizzano was shocked by her resilience, but he had one last trick up his sleeve. He motioned to one of his men, who left the room and returned moments later with a wicked looking device, that resembled a claw. The man handed it to Verizzano, who forcefully rammed the device into Courtney's chest. For a moment, it appeared as though nothing had happened, and then Courtney let out the most horrible scream any of them had ever heard. Within seconds, she began convulsing, her body shaking violently. Blood began to dribble from her mouth, mixing with spit as she seized out, her eyes rolling back in her head. Verizzano yanked the device from Courtney's chest and stood back. Courtney gave one last horrible shudder and fell to the ground, where she lay motionless.

Verizzano smiled and looked at the other three. "You see what happens when you defy me?" he asked, with a grin. "Rest assured, this is not over, you will all die, but that's enough for today, don't you think?" He smiled again and left, his men following him out. Beth crawled over to Courtney and shook her. Courtney did not respond, her eyes were open and blank, and it was obvious that she was gone.

Beth looked at the others, tears in her eyes, and whispered, "She's dead."

Katie broke down into tears and Lindsey stared at Beth with a vacant expression on her face. "No, no, no." she moaned. "She can't be dead, she can't be."

At that same moment, miles away, unaware of his wife's fate, Duncan was preparing a rescue mission. He was determined to get them back, one way or another, he would save them, even if it meant his own death.

**A/N: Just so you're aware I got the idea for the torture device Verizzano uses on Courtney from the Firefly episode "War Stories." If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to Hulu, type in Firefly and watch it.**


	12. The Rescue

Duncan sat alone, running through his plan one more time. It had been thirteen hours since Courtney, Lindsey, Beth, and Katie had been taken, and Duncan had no idea if they were still alive. But he was determined to find them. His plan was simple, follow the trail left by the stalkers, which he hoped would lead him to Verizzano's hideout. Finally, convinced he was ready, Duncan got up, but before he could head out, he was stopped by the others.

Duncan glared at them, they had already argued about this and he had won. "Get out of my way." Duncan snarled. "I'm going after them, and you ain't gonna fucking stop me."

"Duncan we're not here to stop you, we're here to help you." said Gwen, her voice icy.

"I told you no!" Duncan shouted. "I'm going alone."

"Don't be thick dude." said Trent. "You don't even know where Verizzano took them. They could be anywhere, for shit's sake."

"Duncan, you can't do this alone." said Bridgette. "You need our help."

"And how're you gonna help?" Duncan spat. "You're goddamn leg is broken, you can't even walk."

"That's beside the point." Bridgette replied. "Aren't you the one who's always saying we're a family?" Duncan shrugged. "We have just as much of a responsibility to help our family as you do." Bridgette continued. "You can't put this all on your shoulders like you did with Dorian, you'll get yourself killed."

"Bridgette's right." said Aneka. "And unfortunately for you Duncan, you can't do much to stop us from helping you. So you better just accept the fact that we're coming with you."

Duncan glared at them again and then sighed. "Fine, come with me, but we're not waiting around for long, so hurry the fuck up."

It was not the rescue operation Duncan had had in mind, but Aneka was right, he couldn't really stop them from coming. The going would be slow, with Heather still weak from the poison and Bridgette unable to walk under her own power. Her leg was held straight by a soft cast that Abigail happened to have, but it was obvious she needed medical attention. There was, however, an advantage the others presented that made Duncan soon forget about his anger with them. Aneka and Brendan knew the possible location of one of Verizzano's hideouts, the one he had most likely taken the girls to. Also, as Chef would point out, they did have a numbers advantage, assuming Verizzano didn't send any stalkers to intercept them. They also had the advantage of surprise.

Meanwhile, as the others made their way towards Verizzano's hideout, Lindsey, Beth, and Katie were still trying to grips with Courtney's death. Lindsey was particularly shaken by Courtney's death, as she had been so sure Courtney would beat Verizzano. She sat in her corner, cradling her broken arm, staring at Courtney's motionless body, unable to take her eyes off it for fear it would disappear. Katie was also too shocked to move. She sat staring at the floor, contemplating Verizzano's words. She had already seen the other side, having died in the war with Dorian, so death itself no longer scared her. But the fact that she could not come back this time did.

Beth was the opposite of the other two. While they sat and mourned, she scrambled around, trying to find a way out. But no matter how hard she tried, Beth could not locate the door through which the men had entered. It was becoming apparent that there was no way out, they were indeed trapped and facing the same fate as Courtney.

Two hours later Beth was awoken by a crash. She hadn't realized she'd even been tired and was shocked to find she had fallen asleep. The crash seemed to have stirred Lindsey and Katie from slumber as well. "What the hell was that?" Katie asked, looking at the ceiling. Beth shrugged. A second crash, followed by gunfire echoed from above.

"Something's happening up there, sounds like a battle." said Beth. "But who-?" she stopped. "Oh, God, it's the others, it has to be." she exclaimed.

"How can you be sure?" asked Lindsey. "They probably don't-" , a sudden gasp cut her off, making all three of them jump. They spun around to find Courtney in a half sitting position.

"Courtney!" Beth shrieked. "You're alive!" She looked at Courtney, "Wait, how're you alive? I thought we didn't have Luminous' protection anymore?"

"Wasn't...actually...dead." Courtney gasped. She coughed, and hacked up blood. "My brain must have shut down to escape the pain, I don't know how though."

"Who cares." said Lindsey, tears of joy streaming down her face. "You're alive, that's all that matters."

"Yeah, well, we're still trapped in this pit." said Courtney, glancing at the ceiling as another crash resounded above. "What's going on up there?"

"A battle of some kind, from the sound of it." said Beth.

"You don't think it's the others, do you?" Courtney asked, looking at Beth hopefully.

"I do. But I don't know how-" Beth began, but at that exact moment the secret door blew open, and one of Verizzano's men fell into the room, a knife in his back. A cloud of smoke and dust obscured the doorway and then shapes appeared. Seconds later, Duncan, Tyler, Cody, Abigail, Aneka, and D.J. stepped into the room. Courtney's eyes widened and met Duncan's. There was a squeal of joy behind her and Beth shot forward, into Cody's arms.

"I knew it, I knew it." she sobbed. "I knew it was you."

Tyler helped Lindsey to her feet and D.J. scooped up Katie. Duncan took Courtney's hand and pulled her to her feet, then into a hug. "Let's go." he said to the others.

They headed upstairs where they met up with the others. "Did you get Verizzano?" Aneka asked. Brendan shook his head. "Damn it!" Aneka shouted. They headed for the exit and as soon as they were clear, the hideout exploded. The campers stopped for a moment and watched it burn. It was a fitting end to the rescue mission, they had their friends back and it was a bonus to see the hideout destroyed. But the joy would not last for long, as Verizzano has more than one trick up his sleeve.


	13. The Battle of Toronto, pt1

The campers headed back to Toronto, as Courtney, Beth, Katie, Lindsey, Bridgette, and Heather were in need of medical attention. Verizzano's torture session had done more damage than the girls had realized. Katie's left ankle was badly fractured, Lindsey's right arm was broken in several places, and Beth had several cracked ribs. They had been so fixated on what had happened to Courtney that they had hardly stopped to notice their own injuries. Only now that they were free from captivity did they notice their own pain.

The group arrived at the hospital and were greeted by their familiar nurse. "What is it about you guys?" she asked. "Every time you're in Toronto whole heaps of you seem to end up here."

"Yeah, well we got a lot of, uh, rough fans." Duncan muttered.

"Uh huh, sure." said the nurse. "Fans who like to shoot you, stab you, run you over, and burn this hospital to the ground."

"Uh, yeah." said Duncan, with a shifty glance around the reception area.

"Great fans." the nurse muttered, rolling her eyes. "Well lets get you all into a room." she said turning towards the others.

Lindsey, Katie, Bridgette, and Courtney were carted off for surgery and Beth's ribs were bandaged. Heather was hooked up to an iv to get fluids back into her system. Several hours later, after the surgeries were finished, the entire group found themselves in a familiar room.

"Well, this is nice." said Beth, sarcastically. "At least we're someplace familiar."

The others chuckled at the joke, but the honest truth was none of them wanted to be here. They had spent too much time in this room the last time they were in Toronto and had already visited it once on this trip. It was the last place on Earth any of them wanted to see again, with the possible exception of Camp Wawanakwa. And yet, here they were sitting in the room that stank of negative memories. This was the room that the others had been in when Gwen had died, the room that Heather had died in, the room in which they had been betrayed by Thomas. As these painful memories rolled over them Gwen turned and walked out.

Trent followed his wife and found her sitting in a corner down the hall, her head in her hands. She was crying and Trent knew why. Still he was compelled to ask, "Gwen, what's wrong?"

Gwen looked up at him, her eyes blurred by tears. "I can't stay in that room, I just can't." she said, her voice wavering. "There's too many bad memories, I can't take it."

"I know Gwen, I know." said Trent, sitting next to her and putting his arm around her shoulder. "I feel it too. But where else are we supposed to go? We'll be safe here."

"No, we won't." Gwen replied. "Verizzano will find us, I can feel it. It's not over."

Trent was about to ask how Gwen could be so sure, when Abigail showed up. "Hey, we're discussing what to do next and we could use your input." She noticed Gwen's bloodshot eyes. "Is everything okay?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Gwen replied. "We'll be there in a minute." Abigail nodded and left.

"Are you sure you're-?" Trent began, but Gwen cut him off.

"Yes. I just needed a few minutes to collect myself. If they need our input, I'll deal with my insecurities." she said. With that, they rejoined the group.

"I don't think he's done, I know he's not done." Brendan was saying as they entered. "Look, Verizzano is like Dorian, he will not give up."

"So what do we do?" LeShawna asked, staring at Brendan with intense scrutiny.

"We take a day or two to recover and we get out." Aneka answered for her brother.

"No." said Duncan. "We tried running and it didn't work. We have to face Verizzano head on. We have to beat him or he's not gonna stop."

"We can't face him head on, we'll all get killed, you idiot." snapped Harold.

"No, Duncan's right." said Brendan. "We tried running. We have to make a stand, it's the only way. Unless anyone else has an idea?"

No one spoke up. "Alright, than we make a-", Brendan's sentence was cut short by an explosion outside the hospital.

"What the fuck was that?" said Owen, looking towards the window. Izzy and Duncan rushed to the window and looked outside.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Izzy shouted. "Motherfucking shit! It isn't possible."

"What Izzy? What is it?" asked Noah.

"It's him!" Duncan said, as he and Izzy turned back to the others. "Verizzano found us."

"What? How?" asked Eva, staring at Duncan and Izzy in disbelief.

Before either of them could respond, Aneka answered. "Because he's that damn good." she said, grimly. "Because we didn't kill him when we had the chance. And now he'll raze the city to the ground, just to teach us a lesson."

The others stared at her in horror, for what seemed like the millionth time. And then a grin lit Duncan's face. "If he wants a fucking war, than he's gonna get a fucking war." With that, Duncan threw open the medical cabinets in the room, revealing a massive store of weapons.

"Duncan, what-I mean how did you get the hospital to agree to this?" Courtney asked, from her bed. She stared at her husband in surprise and admiration.

"I told them it would be a good idea to keep a store here, in case something like this happened again." Duncan replied, ignoring the looks of shock. "Oddly they didn't really object, must've been my charming personality." He shrugged and started handing out weapons. The others shrugged as well and accepted the weapons without further questions. Ultimately, it was decided that Duncan, Trent, Gwen, Geoff, Izzy, Abigail, D.J., Chef, Aneka, Justin, Owen, Chris, Eva and Noah would head out to meet Verizzano's troops. Brendan, Sadie, Tyler, Cody, Harold, LeShawna, and Ezekiel would stay at the hospital to protect the injured, in case Verizzano made it there.

"Remember, priority number one is to keep them from getting to the hospital." said Duncan. "You are the second line of defense, if we fail, you must hold this place down."

"Don't worry Duncan. You can count on us, eh." said Ezekiel. Brendan nodded, and Duncan's team headed out. They were met by Verizzano's soldiers almost immediately, but they were able to take them down quickly. However, for every one soldier they killed, three more showed up.

"Ugh, these goddamn bastards are persistent." shouted Duncan. "They're like fucking gnats, you just can't get rid of them."

A soldier took aim at Duncan, but Trent spotted it first. "Duncan, on your left." he shouted. Duncan turned in time to see the soldier fire. He ducked and returned fire, striking the soldier in the chest.

"Thanks Trent." he shouted. Trent nodded and moved on. As the campers progressed they began running into more of Verizzano's cyborg terrors. And not just stalkers, but other even more dangerous beasts. The flying, insectoid ones were the most dangerous, given their ammunition, which consisted primarily of the same needles Verizzano had used the first night they met him.

Izzy in particular was having trouble with these cyborgs, which seemed to be intent on taking her out. Two of them fired a hail of needles at her, several of the needles finding their mark. "Ah, damn it!" Izzy shouted, as she collapsed.

D.J. and Owen arrived to find Izzy on the ground, convulsing. "Shit." said D.J. as he rushed towards her, firing at the cyborgs as he did so. Owen reached Izzy first and lifted her from the ground. She was foaming at the mouth and her eyes were rolling in her head. "Oh, God, Izzy!" Owen shouted. "D.J. we need to get her to the hospital."

D.J. nodded and they turned to head back to the hospital, but a sudden explosion from that direction stopped them in their tracks. "Shit, not again" D.J. shouted, with a horrified glance at Owen.


	14. The Battle of Toronto, pt2

D.J. and Owen heard a scream of anger from somewhere nearby and Duncan emerged from behind a parked car. He stopped upon seeing Owen and D.J. "Did you-?" D.J. asked, and Duncan nodded before he could finish his sentence.

"Duncan, we gotta help Izzy." said Owen. "Those insect things got her with their needles."

"Find Abigail or Aneka, they can help her." said Duncan, and without a backwards glance he rushed off towards the hospital.

"Duncan wait, do you know where they are?" Owen shouted after him, but Duncan did not respond. "Damn it!" Owen shouted.

"Come on, lets get moving." said D.J. "We gotta get her some help and standing around ain't gonna do it." They ran off in search of Abigail and a short time later, they found her, hunkered down with Chris and Chef. Chef waved to them and they joined the other three in their hiding spot.

"Abigail, Izzy's hurt, she got hit with those needles." Owen said, frantically, as Izzy was now very pale and unconscious. Without a word, Abigail yanked the needles from Izzy's body and applied the same suction device she had used on Heather to Izzy's wounds. Within seconds, Izzy's eyes fluttered open, but she was still weak.

"Do you have any idea where the others are?" Chef asked.

"Duncan went back to the hospital." said D.J. "There was some kind of explosion and he went to check it out. As for Gwen, Trent, Geoff, Justin, Eva, and Noah, I have no idea."

"Shit!" said Chef. "We haven't seen them either, and those cyborg things are everywhere."

"What about Aneka?" Izzy asked, weakly.

"She went back to the hospital too." said Abigail. "She saw some soldiers and a stalker headed that direction and went to head them off. Hopefully Duncan's met up with her."

Meanwhile, Duncan arrived back at the hospital to find the doors hanging open and signs of a struggle outside. He headed inside and found the reception area undamaged. _What the hell?_ he thought. Just then, a gun cocked and Duncan spun, raising his gun as well. He froze, finding himself face to face with Aneka. "What the fuck?" he shouted. "Are you trying to get shot?"

"Sorry." said Aneka. "Couldn't tell it was you from behind."

"Whatever." Duncan muttered. "What are you doing here?"

Aneka smiled at him and answered, "I saw some of Verizzano's men heading this way so I came to head them off, but when I got here they were no where to be found, and neither are the others. There are signs of a struggle, so maybe they ran for it."

"Shit, shit, shit!" Duncan growled. "They were supposed to stay put."

Back at Abigail's hideout, Eva, Noah, and Justin had joined the group, leaving only Gwen, Trent, and Geoff unaccounted for. Izzy was feeling slightly better and was trying to convince the others to move. "Come on, we can't stay her forever." she implored, her voice horse and croaky. "We gotta find the others, before it's too late."

"But, Iz, you can barely move. You're still weak from that poison." argued Owen. "And we don't have any idea where the others even are."

"Besides, it's not like they can't take care of themselves." said Justin.

Izzy glared at him and turned to Abigail, Chris, and Chef. "What do you think we should do?" she asked.

"We should move." said Abigail. "But not because we need to find the others."

"Why then?" snapped Izzy, her face darkening.

"Because, there's two stalkers headed this way." Abigail replied, without looking at Izzy.

"Well, shit, let's get going." said D.J. The others nodded in agreement and they ran, Owen carrying Izzy, as she was too weak to hold herself up.

"Head back to the hospital." said Abigail. "We'll regroup there."

As they ran, they were forced to fight their way through soldiers and cyborgs. They ran into Trent, Gwen, and Geoff along the way, who joined them without question. They arrived back at the hospital to find Duncan and Aneka standing out front.

"Where the hell is everyone else?" Chris shouted.

"They're gone." said Duncan. "We searched the whole hospital, the place is deserted."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Duncan, ol' buddy." said Tyler, stepping out from inside a large delivery truck.

"What the-?" Duncan asked, shocked at what he was seeing. The others stared at Tyler in amazement as well.

Tyler smiled and threw open the truck's doors to reveal the rest of the hospital crew, including the injured. "It was Cody's idea." he said. "Some soldiers and a stalker showed up and we needed a place to hide, so here we are."

"But the explosion, I thought it was them hitting you?" said Duncan, perplexed.

"Nope, that was us." said Harold. "Used some of the sticky explosives we used on Verizzano's hideout to take it down."

"Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha. Very good Harold, very good indeed." Verizzano's voice called out, making them all turn. Verizzano stood, flanked by several soldiers, a huge grin on his face.

Duncan drew his gun and Brendan his sword. Abigail, Aneka, Chef, Chris, and several others followed suit. "Ah, now let's not be too hasty." said Verizzano, with a smirk. "We're just getting to the fun part." He smirked again, and continued. "You have all fought very well, but it is time to turn things up a notch. It is time for you to meet my master." And with that the soldiers parted, revealing a hulking, massive figure, dressed all in black.

**A/N: Oh yeah, that's right, Verizzano isn't alone and his "master" is going to make things a whole lot worse. Will the campers survive or have they finally met their doom? Keep reading to find out.**


	15. Darkness

The campers stared at Verizzano in horror. This development was unexpected, and it appeared even Abigail and the DuValls were taken aback. They had all been operating under the impression that Verizzano was a loner who trusted no one, but it now appeared he too is just a pawn in a larger game.

Verizzano laughed, bringing the campers back to their senses. "I see you are surprised by my news." He smirked again. "This is not entirely unexpected, as why would a man such as myself have any need for allies? But my master is much more than an ally, he is the reason why I am here."

At these words, the massive figure stepped forward, throwing his features into the light. His face was scared and his eyes were bright red. His mouth twisted into a smile, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. There was something inhuman about this man, but the campers could not figure out what it was. The man spoke, his voice a low rumble, that sent shivers down the spine. " From what I hear you have given Victor quite a bit of trouble. But rest assured that trouble ends now." He smiled again and continued, "I am Drevis and I am the reason you will suffer."

"Drevis?" Gwen asked. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"It is demonic." Drevis answered. "It means darkness." He grinned again.

"Why would you have a demonic name?" Gwen asked.

"Don't you know?" Drevis asked. "Didn't Victor tell you? I'm a half demon."

"Bullshit!" Duncan shouted, advancing towards him. "There is no way you're a half demon."

"Oh no, are you quite certain?" Drevis asked, and with that he shifted, revealing his demonic form. Duncan jumped back, surprise and fear on his face. Drevis laughed, a deep, booming laugh that shook the ground.

"You believe me now, Duncan?" he asked, his voice even deeper than before.

Duncan nodded, too afraid to speak. He had never seen anything like this before in his life. It was like something out of a nightmare, yet it was standing here before him, speaking to him. He was going insane, he had to be, there was no other logical explanation. But that couldn't be right, Gwen saw the monster too, so Drevis couldn't be an illusion or hallucination, could he? Was it possible Verizzano had them all under some kind of spell? Given all that he had experienced in recent months Duncan was sure it was, but there was something about Drevis that made Duncan think he was real. Duncan shook his head, trying to clear it. He needed to stay focused, real or not, this demon meant to kill them.

Duncan looked up into Drevis' cold red eyes, determined not to flinch. Drevis stared back for a moment, before speaking. "I see you have heart in you." he said. "You have courage beyond most of your race, and I admire that. I will give you one week to heal and prepare, after that Victor and I will come for you, ready or not." He grinned one last time and then he and Verizzano disappeared.

Duncan stared at the spot where Drevis had stood and then turned to the others. They looked at him with looks of fear and amazement. None of them were quite sure what they had just witnessed, let alone how to prepare for it. Duncan looked at Abigail, who shrugged. She was just as confused as he was. "Well, I suppose we should find someplace to stay." Duncan finally said.

"The hotel?" Trent suggested, looking his friend in the eye.

"No, they know we stay there." said Duncan. "I was thinking of Drama." He looked at Harold and LeShawna, who both looked up at the mention of their club.

"I don't know Duncan, wouldn't they suspect that?" said Harold.

"Does it matter?" asked LeShawna. "Drevis said he'd give us week, I don't think it really matters where we stay."

"You think he's gonna hold to his word?" Harold asked, sceptically.

"I don't-yes, I do." said LeShawna, changing course mid-sentence.

"I agree with LeShawna." said Brendan. "Drevis will hold to his word. Demons have a code of honor, and they're very fickle about breaking it."

"Technically, he's only a half demon, so who says he'll hold to their code?" said Noah.

"Even half demons hold to their code." said Brendan. "He will keep his word."

"Okay then, let's get to the club." said Duncan, before anyone else could argue.

They arrived at Drama a short time later and began to set up living spaces. The injured were taken upstairs, where they would be more comfortable. Harold and LeShawna lived above the club and they willingly surrendered their apartment to those who needed it more. The others transformed the bar area into a sleeping area and set about finding food.

Later that night, Duncan sat in the ally way behind the club, smoking a cigarette. He turned the events of the last several days over and over in his mind, trying to make sense of it all. No matter how he looked at it, the sequence of events that had lead to this moment made no sense whatsoever. These enemies were unlike anything Duncan had ever encountered before. At least Dorian had had a clear cut plan for what he wanted from the campers. Verizzano and Drevis just seemed to want to spill there blood, but for what reason? Why had they targeted Duncan and his family? What was the reason for all of this? Duncan could not come up with an answer and was on his fifth cigarette.

"Mind if I have one of those?" Aneka asked, drawing Duncan out of his reverie. He had been so lost in thought, he hadn't heard her come out.

"Uh, sure." he said, tossing the pack to her. He watched as she lit the cigarette and took a long drag. Something about this simple action made Duncan momentarily forget about the challenges they faced, stiring something inside him he hadn't felt in years.

"What are you looking at?" Aneka asked, her voice once again bringing Duncan back to reality.

"Uh, nothing, nothing." Duncan said hastily, looking away. Aneka cocked an eyebrow in a disbelieving fashion.

Duncan looked back at her and she smiled. "So, do you know anything about demons?" Duncan asked, trying to push his thoughts aside.

"Not much." Aneka replied. "Like Brendan said, they have a code of honor that they stick to. They also tend to be quite powerful and have ways of beating you before you even get a chance to start. Oh, and the half bloods tend to be more powerful than the pure bloods."

"Shit." Duncan sighed. "That's just fucking great. The half bloods are more powerful, fucking spectacular."

"I said generally more powerful." Aneka corrected him.

"Whatever." Duncan muttered. He lit another cigarette out of frustration.

"Do you remember the day we first met?" Aneka asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Duncan stared at her, shocked. "Uh, yeah." he replied. "You asked me if I had what it took to defeat Dorian and lectured me on destiny."

"And you fought very well." Aneka said. "I see you still have the skills in combat." She fixed him with a powerful stare.

Duncan swallowed hard, he could not give in to this. _But why can't you_, the voice in his head asked. _Why can't you have her? You know you want to. Because you're married to Courtney, that's why_, another voice answered. _What about her feelings? She's your wife, you can't betray her like this. What about them? She's tough, she can handle it, _the first voice answered.

Duncan stared at Aneka. Her eyes were mesmerizing and his head was beginning to get light. _Kiss her_, the first voice demanded._ Kiss her now. Don't do it, think about Courtney_, the other voice pleaded. _KISS HER NOW, DAMN IT!_ the first voice shouted.

Duncan stared at Aneka a moment longer, and then, without really knowing what he was doing, he leaned forward and kissed her.

**A/N: Oh yeah, I went there! Anyway, that's chapter fifteen, pretty interesting huh? If you're wondering what the demon thing is all about, all I can say is this fic is supernatural. Drevis follows my interpretation of demon mythology and more will be revealed on him later. Also, anyone care to take a guess on what's going to happen between Duncan and Aneka? Remember I will neither confirm nor deny any guesses. That's all for now, next chapter will be up in two days.**


	16. Romance Blooms

Duncan awoke the following morning to find himself still in the ally way. He was alone again and it took him a moment to realize why he was out here. He shook his head in frustration, did he really kiss Aneka last night? What had happened after that? Did they-no, they couldn't have done that, could they? Duncan shook his head again and entered the club. Everyone else was still asleep and Aneka was no where to be found. Duncan headed upstairs, and found Courtney still asleep too. He stared at his wife for a moment and shuddered. What would she say when she found out about last night? Duncan shook his head for the third time; he was being irrational, jumping to conclusions without all the facts, he had no proof anything had actually happened. He needed to find Aneka, perhaps she could remember better.

Duncan headed back downstairs, but Aneka was still not there. He left the club and headed down the street, hoping she had gone for a walk. After a few moments, his wish was answered. Aneka was sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop two blocks from the club. Duncan approached and sat down next to her, without making eye contact.

"Good morning Duncan." said Aneka, smiling at him.

Duncan glanced at her and swallowed. "Uh-?" he began, but he couldn't come up with the right words.

"Yes?" Aneka asked, looking at him. "Is there something you want to ask me?"

Duncan looked at her and sighed. "D-Did anything happen between us last night?" he managed to choke out.

Aneka looked at him a moment before answering. "You mean after you kissed me?" she asked. Duncan nodded. Aneka smiled, "We made love, and it was great. Very hot."

Duncan's eyes widened in horror. Aneka laughed and slugged him in the shoulder. "You are so gullible Duncan Reynolds." she said.

Duncan blinked, surprised. "Wait, what?" he asked, blankly. "We didn't make love?"

"Of course not." said Aneka, laughing. "You're married to Courtney. I would never take advantage of you like that. I accepted the kiss and that was that."

Duncan glared at her, he was still suspicious. "You're sure we didn't-?" he began, but Aneka cut him off.

"I assure you, nothing else happened. We kissed, that's it." she said, flashing another grin. With that, Aneka got up and walked off, leaving Duncan staring after her in disbelief. He closed his eyes and sighed again. Aneka was hiding something, he was sure of it. She had been too casual about last night and in Duncan's experience that always indicates some sort of secret. If nothing had happened she would have just come out and said it. Duncan rolled his eyes as he got up to leave. _Great_, he thought, _this is not the time for this. Way to go you dumbass._

Duncan made his way back to Drama, entering to find the others awake and the injured downstairs. Aneka was there as well, sitting by the bar with Abigail and Brendan. She winked at him as he took a seat next to Courtney, but he did not return it.

"Where the hell were you?" Heather demanded, eying Duncan suspiciously.

"I see you're back at full strength." Duncan snapped, glaring at Heather.

Heather raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What's your problem?" she asked. "Not getting enough personal time?"

"Shut it Heather." said Gwen. "We don't have time for your bitch attitude right now."

"Sorry, you're right." said Heather, looking at the floor.

"So, what's with the meeting?" Duncan asked, looking around the room.

"Honestly, could be any more thick?" Courtney asked. "We have a week to prepare, we need to discuss strategy."

"Oh, yeah." said Duncan. Courtney glared at him. "Sorry I forgot." Duncan said, with a quick glance at Aneka. It was true, in all his confusion about last night, Duncan had indeed forgotten that Drevis had given them only one week to prepare for the second war. He looked at Courtney and smiled sheepishly. Courtney rolled her eyes and turned to the others.

"So, any ideas about how we should approach this?" she asked.

"I think those of us who are able should train mentally and physically, and those of us who can't should train mentally." said Chef.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." said Abigail. "Verizzano was hard enough on is own and now, with a half demon in the mix, we're in for a brutal fight. Drevis will be hard to take out and we will most likely not be able to use conventional methods of combat against him. So we will need to be as prepared as we can be."

The others nodded. "So, how do we prepare for something like Drevis?" Noah asked.

"I did some research last night that should be helpful." said Abigail.

"And I've heard of a guy who supposedly specializes in dealing with demons." said Gwen. "I could try and get a hold of him, see if he can help us."

"Good, good, you look into that Gwen." said Abigail. "Meanwhile the rest of us will start digging into my research and see what we can come up with." The others agreed and set to work.

Several hours later Duncan approached Aneka, who was reading some of Abigail's research, and tapped her on the shoulder. Aneka turned around and looked at him "We need to talk." Duncan said, not bothering with formalities.

"Okay." said Aneka. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Not here." Duncan growled. He gestured towards the back door. Aneka realized what he wanted to talk about, but in the interest of not causing a scene got up and followed Duncan out the back ally. Once they were outside, she turned to face him, her eyes blazing.

"I already told you, nothing happened." she spat, glaring at him.

"You're lying." Duncan shot back. "Something happened between us last night and you're going to tell me what it was."

Aneka glared at him and he glared back. Finally Aneka sighed, "Alright, I was telling the truth earlier when I said we made love. But I swear you liked it and we agreed not to do it again."

Duncan staggered backwards, staring at her. He could not believe what she was saying, it had to be a joke, a sick, horrible joke. But as he looked into Aneka's eyes, he knew it was true. They had made love last night and neither of them had tried to stop it. In that moment, Duncan realized his life had changed forever. He loved Courtney, but that love was not enough anymore. He wanted something else, something Courtney could not provide. He stared at Aneka a moment longer and then kissed her again, only this time he was totally aware of his actions. As they embraced, Duncan was reminded of something Bridgette had told him once, when he was questioning why he was attracted to Courtney, love blossoms in the strangest places.

Just then, there was the clink of glass on pavement as a bottle was knocked over. Duncan and Aneka broke apart and Duncan glanced towards the doorway in time to see a lock of dark brown hair disappear. They had been seen, but by who?

**A/N: Okay, first off I'm sorry for the minor delay in getting this up. I know I said last chapter I would have this up in two days but I kinda got sick over the weekend and therefore was out of commission on Saturday. Second, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. Some of you had really good guesses about what will happen between Duncan and Aneka, however like I said I will neither confirm nor deny your theories so if you want to know if you're right keep reading to find out.**


	17. Cheater

Over the next several days Duncan and Aneka only grew closer. The others seemed to be completely oblivious to this new blossoming romance, except for one. Duncan and Aneka had still not figured out who had been spying on them, but Duncan had his suspicions. Still he could not confront the person without drawing suspicion on himself. Finally, three days after his embrace with Aneka he pulled Heather aside.

"What?" she asked, staring at him. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk." Duncan said, trying to keep his voice level.

"About what?" Heather asked, eying Duncan suspiciously.

"You know about what." Duncan growled, dragging Heather towards the back ally so they wouldn't be overheard. Once outside, he turned to face her. "I know you were spying on me and Aneka the other night."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Heather said.

"Don't play dumb with me Heather." Duncan said, his voice cold. "You were spying on us and I want to know why. Did Courtney send you?"

"I-no, she didn't." said Heather, hanging her head. She recognized defeat when it appeared before her. "I acted alone."

"Why?" Duncan asked, taken aback by Heather's sudden surrender.

"I thought it was suspicious that each of you was out that morning." said Heather. "I thought something was going on between you and Aneka, and I wanted to confirm my suspicions. When the two of you came out here I decided to follow you and I was right, wasn't I? There is something going on between you and Aneka."

"You could have just asked, you know." said Duncan.

"Yeah, like you would have told me the truth." Heather scoffed.

Duncan rolled his eyes and sighed. "I guess you're right." he muttered. "Look, don't tell Courtney about this okay."

Heather stared at him a moment before answering. "I won't, I promise." she said. Duncan stared at her a moment before heading back inside. Heather hesitated and then followed him in.

Several hours later, Heather sat alone on the balcony that jutted off the back side of the building. She ran Duncan's words over and over in her head. It was impossible to believe, Duncan betraying Courtney like this. And yet Heather could not figure out why she cared. Sure, she had become closer to the others over the last six years, but she knew she would always be the one who received the hatred, and she would return it in kind. But something about this situation bothered her on a level she had not previously experienced.

"Heather?" a voice asked. The mention of her name drew Heather out of her thoughts. She turned to find Gwen, Trent, and Justin standing behind her.

"Heather, what are you doing up here?" Justin asked.

"Just thinking." Heather replied, with a quick glance at the door.

"Thinking about what?" Gwen asked, looking her old enemy in the eye.

"Nothing in particular." Heather said, with another glance at the door.

"You look kinda anxious, is everything alright?" Trent asked, concern in his voice.

"Yes everything's fine." said Heather. She hesitated and then shook her head. "No, that's a lie, everything is not fine."

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked, concern in her voice now too.

"It's Duncan." Heather said, her voice almost a whisper. She looked at them, unsure if she wanted to continue.

"Duncan?" Justin prodded. "What about him?"

"He-He's cheating on Courtney." Heather breathed. "With Aneka."

"WHAT?"the other three exclaimed in unison.

"Heather are-are you sure?" Gwen asked, staring at Heather with wide eyes. "Because that's a serious accusation to make."

"Yes I'm sure." said Heather. "He admitted it to me, made me promise not to tell Courtney. But I can't just sit here and not tell her, she has to know. It isn't right, they're married, he should stay loyal to her."

"Did he say why he was doing this?" Trent asked, running his hand through his hair.

"No, he didn't mention any reason." said Heather. "We have to tell Courtney."

"Tell me what?" said a voice behind them, making all four of them jump.

"Courtney!" Gwen yelped. "What are you doing up here?"

Courtney ignored Gwen's question and looked at Heather. "Tell me what, Heather?" she repeated.

"That we uh, found a way to defeat Drevis." Justin threw out, lamely.

"Don't lie to me Justin." Courtney snapped. "I'm not stupid, I know you're hiding something from me."

Gwen sighed and took Courtney's hand. "Duncan's cheating on you." she said.

Courtney stared at Gwen a moment. "Oh ha, ha, very funny Gwen. That was a spectacular joke, now tell me what your really hiding."

"No, Courtney, Gwen's not joking." said Trent. "Duncan really is cheating on you."

Courtney froze and looked at all four of them, hoping one of them would say April Fool's, but no one did. "Come on, you guys can't be serious." she said. "Duncan would never cheat on me."

"It's true." said Heather. "I caught him in the back-ally two nights ago. He was making out with Aneka. He admitted the truth to me earlier today, told me not to tell you."

Courtney stared at them a moment and then exploded. "Oh my God!" she screamed. "That bastard! I'm going to kill him."

She turned and ran back inside heading for the stairs. She tore into the main room downstairs where the others were gathered, Gwen, Heather, Trent, and Justin on her heals. She found Duncan and Aneka sitting in the corner and threw herself at them.

"Duncan, you cheating bastard, how could you?" she screamed.

Duncan looked up and asked, "What's up Court?"

"Don't you dare what's up Court me." Courtney screamed. "I know what's going on here, you've been cheating on me with this assassin bitch!"

Duncan did not react and the others stared at Courtney in shocked silence, barely daring to believe what they were hearing.

**A/N: Okay, I just wanted to say that some of you jumped the gun on the Duncan breaking up with Courtney thing in your reviews of the last chapter. Technically I hadn't actually broken them up yet, but you were all on the right track so...good job, for what it's worth. Sorry if this disappoints you, but that's how these things go.**


	18. The Parting of Duncan and Courtney

The others were still staring at Courtney in disbelief, but the room had gone completely silent. Duncan stood and took a hold of his wife. "Courtney, what are you talking about?" he asked.

"Don't play stupid with me." Courtney snapped, her eyes blazing. "You've been cheating on me with Aneka."

"Courtney where did you get this idea?" Duncan asked, with a cold glance at Heather. "I am not cheating on you with Aneka or anyone else, I swear."

"You fucking lier!" Heather shrieked. "You admitted the truth to me this afternoon. You've been making out with Aneka in the ally-way out back since we got here."

"Duncan, is this true?" Chef asked. "Have you been cheating on your wife?"

Duncan stood, staring at Chef, not sure how to answer. He glanced at Aneka, who nodded. "Yes, I have been sleeping with Aneka." he answered. "I have been unfaithful to my wife, I admit it." He looked at Courtney, who's eyes were glistening with tears.

"What the fuck dude?" Geoff shouted, advancing on Duncan. He grabbed Duncan by the shirt and pulled him close. "How could you do something like this? Courtney's your wife goddamn it! How could you betray her like this?"

Duncan pushed Geoff away, glaring at him. "You wanna know why I did it, Geoff?" Duncan snarled. "You wanna know why I betrayed Courtney? I'll tell you why. I did it because Aneka gives me something Courtney never could. She gives me my freedom."

Courtney stared at Duncan, tears still pouring down her face. "What do you mean I never gave you your freedom?" she asked. "How was I holding you back?"

"You were always breathing down my neck." Duncan answered. "You never gave me space, never let me be myself."

Courtney launched herself at Duncan. "I gave you plenty of space." she shouted, hitting Duncan in the face. "I gave you all the space in the world. Damn it Duncan, I love you what more do you want from me?"

"I want to live without you." Duncan replied, his voice cold.

"No, no, no." Courtney begged. "Please Duncan please, don't do this. Don't destroy what we have. I can change." Duncan did not respond, so Courtney hit him again. Without warning, Duncan swung out and backhanded Courtney across the face, sending her sprawling.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU!" Bridgette screamed.

"Shut the fuck up Bridgette." Duncan snapped. "This has nothing to do with you." He stepped over and stood over Courtney. "It's too late for change. You said it yourself Court, I'm not your type and your not mine. I'm simply ending something that never should have happened in the first place. I loved you once, but it was just a passing feeling. It was a mistake for any of us to think that this would work out and I am truly sorry for stringing everyone along for the charade. I hope that one day you can forgive me for what I've done here."

"Don't count on it." Gwen snapped, glaring at Duncan.

"Wipe the glare off your face Gwen." Duncan said. "Anger doesn't suit you."

Gwen exhaled slowly and then round house kicked Duncan in the face. "How about now, Duncan?" she shouted. "Does my anger suit me now, you sick, ignorant fuck."

Duncan got to his feet, spitting blood on the floor. "Well that was certainly-", but Harold cut him off.

"Shut up Duncan, just shut up." Harold said. "You act all tough and threatening, but your not the big dog in the yard, not anymore. And you can get the fuck out of my club."

"Gladly." Duncan snarled. "I hate this pile of shit place anyway." He gabbed his stuff and walked out, pausing just outside the front door. Aneka got to her feet and, after gathering her things, moved to join him.

Just before she walked out she turned to the others and said, "Please understand, this is not how I wanted it to go. My intention was never to separate them." Gwen nodded in recognition of Aneka's words and Aneka exited.

"So, we have come to it at last." said Noah, from the shadows. "I always knew it would be a dark day if we ever reached the parting of Duncan and Courtney."

**A/N: Sorry it took me a few days to get this chapter up. My word processor was being uncooperative, but it's working now so we should be back on schedual. Though I should mention I am going on vacation in a few days so I might not get a lot of work done, but I'll try to get a couple chapters up. **


	19. The Burden of Life

The following day dawned dark and cold. Courtney awoke early hoping to find that the previous night's events had been a horrible nightmare, but she would not be so easily comforted. As the realization that Duncan had actually left her hit, Courtney broke down and cried. Noah had been right, it was dark without Duncan around, a darkness Courtney had never before experienced. She was not the only one who felt Duncan's departure. The others felt it too, for Duncan had been one of their best fighters and, in many ways, their leader. It was Duncan who had first called the group a family and without him there, the family felt incomplete.

Despite this, the anger exhibited at his betrayal was still boiling amongst the others. Geoff in particular took offense to Duncan's actions. He had been Duncan's best man and had seen Duncan profess his love for Courtney up close. To see him so callously cast Courtney aside really pissed Geoff off and he was not afraid of voicing his opinions on the subject.

"It just pisses me off." Geoff grumbled at breakfast. "I mean, how could he go and do something like that?"

"I don't know Geoff, but it's not really our problem to deal with." said Cody.

"The hell it ain't!" Geoff shouted. "We are all part of this family and we have a responsibility to be supportive of one another, no matter what. Duncan taught us that, remember? I never thought he would break his own rules."

"You can't be too surprised." said Heather. "We all know the kind of person Duncan is. He's never been the most trustworthy person in the world. It's a miracle his marriage lasted as long as it did. I mean honestly, did he really think he could continue being himself with Courtney as his wife?"

"They just split up, you could be a little nicer, you know." LeShawna snapped.

"Shut up." Heather snapped back. "I'm just pointing things out."

"No, you're being a bitch, as usual." said LeShawna, standing up.

"Hey!" said Gwen, forcefully. "We just had one huge fight in here, we don't need another one. Both of you shut up, okay." LeShawna and Heather nodded and returned to their food.

"It just doesn't feel right." said Sadie, sadly. "It's not the way this should have turned out."

"Well, it did." said Noah. "We lost our leader and we have to move on. We have a battle to prepare for and we need to turn our attention back to that."

"I agree." said Brendan, looking up from his sword.

"Don't you have an opinion on this whole Duncan cheating with Aneka thing?" Eva asked.

"Who my sister has relations with is not my concern." replied Brendan. "I really don't care what she does and I certainly don't care what Duncan does. As far as I'm concerned this is a positive development, Duncan was a hindrance anyway. And as for Aneka, well it hurts me a tiny bit to say this, seeing as she is my sister, but we really don't need her either."

The others stared at him in disbelief. Brendan really was a cold, heartless bastard who only cared about victory and killing. He was almost better suited to be an ally of Drevis and Verizzano. Before any of them could respond to his comments, Courtney entered the room. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was still in her pajamas; it was obvious to almost all of them that she had been crying for several hours.

"Courtney, would you like some breakfast?" Beth asked, with a concerned glance at the others. Courtney gave Beth watery smile and accepted some food, but did not eat it.

"Uh, Courtney?" Ezekiel asked, hesitantly. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

Courtney shook her head and after a moment she got up and walked out of the club. A moment later, Gwen, Chef, Chris, Abigail, and Trent got up and followed her. They found her sitting on the bench Gwen had used when she had been isolated from the group.

"Courtney, you can't do this to yourself." said Gwen. "It isn't your fault. Duncan just-" she could not think of a way to finish her sentence. Courtney looked at her an burst into fresh tears. Gwen wrapped her arms around Courtney and held her friend, comforting her.

"Why?" Courtney asked, her voice croaky and horse. "Why did he do it? What was so wrong with our relationship that he would betray me like this? I hoped it was all just a bad dream, but it's not, he's really gone."

"Yes, he is." said Chris. "But Courtney, you can't define yourself in terms of Duncan. You're a strong person, you have to get past this and stand on your own."

"But what if I can't?" Courtney asked, her eyes swimming with tears.

"Are you kidding?" asked Trent. "We've seen you Courtney, we've seen you stand on your own. We've seen just how strong you are. Remember when you got on TDA, you took the competition by storm. Duncan didn't know what to do with himself, and you came within an inch of winning it."

"Trent's right." said Gwen. "I have never met a stronger person than you Courtney in all my life. When you put your mind to something there is nothing that can stop you. You had that strength in you before Duncan and it will be there long after we're all gone."

"But I can't just forget him." said Courtney. "He was my whole life. How do I just turn my back on that?"

"Listen kid." said Chef. "There comes a time in every person's life when they must make a choice, do they let themselves be defined in the context of others, or do they make their own definition for themselves. It's called the burden of life and we all have to wrestle with it. You want to know if you can go on without Duncan? Only you can answer that question. But I can tell you this, we'll all be there for you no matter what you decide."

"Thanks Chef." said Courtney, sniffing. Chef nodded.

"One more bit of advice." said Trent. "I know Duncan betrayed you, but don't ever give up on him. I know from experience, if you give up you will never have a chance to fix this. But if you give Duncan a window, he may come back. Gwen and I made it work and if we did it, you can certainly get Duncan back."

At the moment, Tyler showed up clutching his ribs and panting. "There you guys are." he gasped, sinking on to the bench.

"What's up Tyler?" Trent asked, looking at Tyler intently.

"We just got a message from Drevis. He and Verizzano are coming for us tomorrow." said Tyler, staring back at Trent.

"What?" Trent shouted. "We still have two days."

"Drevis says we've had long enough." said Tyler, an unhappy look on his face.

"Shit." said Chris. "Looks like we're not gonna be as prepared as we wanted to be."


	20. Out of Time

An hour later the campers had set up defenses inside the club. They were still not fully prepared for the oncoming onslaught, but they were out of time. In hindsight, this was really to be expected, they never should have believed that Drevis would give them the full week. The problem was, of course, compounded by the lack of Duncan and Aneka, who it seemed would not be present for this battle. Brendan was convinced that they did not need Duncan and Aneka to achieve victory, but the others were not so certain. True, they were still pissed at Duncan, but no one could deny the fact that he was an excellent fighter, who gave them a distinct advantage in battle. Aneka also gave them an advantage, and it was her absence that was particularly disheartening. Still, they would have to make do with out the two they needed most.

As the next day dawned, a cold mist rolled in chilling the campers to the bone. They waited, ever aware that Drevis and Verizzano could come from anywhere.

"God, I wish Duncan and Aneka were here." Tyler muttered, as they sat in wait.

"Well, they're not, so just shut up and focus." snapped Eva.

"It would still-" Owen began, but Izzy held up a hand to silence him.

"I hear something." she whispered. "Harold, you got a visual yet?" she asked, speaking into a walkie talkie. Harold was stationed on the roof, with D.J., Abigail, and LeShawna.

"That's a negative Iz." Harold's voice crackled out of her walkie talkie. "Nothing yet. I'll let you know-" Harold went suddenly silent.

"Harold?" Izzy asked. "Harold what's going on up there?"

"Oh, shit." Harold's voice was barely a whisper. "They're here, they're here. Get ready down there, we're in for one hell of a fight."

"Shit." Izzy muttered. "Well, here we go, the shit's about to hit the fan." Brendan nodded. He, Izzy, Owen, Tyler, Eva, Noah, and Justin were in the main room of the club. Gwen, Trent, Geoff, Bridgette, Courtney, Lindsey, Katie, Sadie, and Heather were on the second floor and Cody, Beth, Chris, Chef, and Ezekiel were out back in the ally. "Everybody get ready." Izzy said. "We're almost in the shit."

"Roger that." came Gwen's voice, steely and determined.

"Got ya Iz." came Chris' voice, also very determined.

Izzy turned to her group and stared them down. "Alright, stick to the plan, and no matter what do not give up this club." The others nodded.

"Izzy, first wave incoming in three seconds." Harold called down.

No sooner had he said this when a wall of Verizzano's soldiers burst into the club. Izzy ducked down and rolled taking two of them out. She popped back up on th other side of the soldiers and grinned. The others charged, taking the soldiers down with ease.

"Ha, that's it?" Tyler scoffed. "A bunch of pushovers? That's what Drevis and Verizzano are going to take us out with?"

"Don't get cocky Tyler." Noah snarled. "Remember what we're dealing with here."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Tyler muttered, turning to face the next wave of soldiers, instead finding himself face to face with Verizzano. Verizzano smiled and fired six of his poisoned needles into Tyler's chest.

"TYLER!" Izzy screamed, diving forward to catch him as he fell backwards. Brendan moved forward to engage Verizzano, driving him back and following him outside.

Izzy pulled Tyler back towards the back of the room. Justin ran upstairs to get Lindsey and Eva took the walkie talkie, screaming into it, "Abigail get down here, Tyler's been hit with those poison needles, a lot of them."

Seconds later Abigail appeared next to them, along with Justin and Lindsey, who was sobbing. No sooner had they gotten there, when something exploded through the front of the club, sending all of them crashing into the wall. Izzy looked up and saw Drevis standing atop two stalkers. He smiled at her and raised his hands, red colored energy glowing in them. Izzy braced herself for the impact, not sure if it would matter.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Duncan sat staring at the ground. It had been two days since he had broken things off with Courtney and he had barely said a word. He and Aneka had intended to leave Toronto immediately, but they had yet to make it out of the city. Duncan had no intention of going back to the others. As far as he was concerned that part of his life was dead. Aneka was not so convinced. She joined Duncan at his silent staring match, not wanting to provoke him. Suddenly, Aneka doubled over, clutching her head in pain.

"Aneka, what's wrong?" Duncan asked, jumping to his feet and staring at her.

"It's the others, they're under attack." Aneka gasped, staring up at him.

"What?" Duncan asked, his eyes widening. "Drevis isn't supposed to attack for another two days, what the hell is he doing?"

"He obviously moved up his timetable." said Aneka. "Duncan we should-" but Duncan glared at her, causing her to stop.

"No, we're not going back." he said firmly. "I will not help them."

"We have an obligation to return." Aneka said, just as firmly. "They would do the same for us." Duncan rolled his eyes. "You know they would, so don't give me that shit." Aneka continued. "We're going back, and that's final."

"Fine." Duncan sighed. "But I'm telling you, they're not gonna be happy to see us."

Back at the club, Izzy found herself in a struggle with Drevis. She had managed to avoid his first attack, but he now seemed to have personally marked her. Gwen, Trent, and Abigail joined the fight, coming to Izzy's aide. But even their combined efforts did not seem to faze Drevis in the least. The battle was not going well for the others either. Tyler was down and he had been joined by Sadie, Heather, Ezekiel, and Noah. The rest of them were still fighting, but the club was now overrun with Verizzano's soldiers, as well as his cyborg monstrosities. Brendan was no where to be seen, as he was locked in mortal combat with Verizzano. It seemed as though all hope was gone until several massive explosions took out a large number of the soldiers. Drevis turned to find the source of the explosions and saw Duncan and Aneka standing atop a heap of rubble.

"Oh shit, it's Duncan and Aneka." said Izzy, surprise in her voice.

Drevis looked at the four he was fighting and smiled. "Until next time." he growled, before disappearing. Verizzano followed Drevis' lead and he and the remaining soldiers fled the scene as well.

Duncan and Aneka approached the others, who were staring at them with a mixture of surprise and dislike. Courtney in particular was unhappy to see them.

"Well, we're back." said Duncan, not looking at Courtney.

"So you are." said Gwen, her voice cold. "What brings you back Duncan, couldn't let us fight without you?"

"Actually it was my idea to return." said Aneka. "I thought you could use the-" she stopped abruptly, as Lindsey suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her stomach in pain.

**A/N: Well there's chapter 20. This'll probably be the last chapter for about a week or so, as I am currently on vacation, but the normal schedual will resume once I am home. With any luck I might have new chapters for my other fics as well. Also, for anyone who is confused as to why I have a fight and then big breaks instead of just killing everyone at once, I do that to draw out the story and make it more interesting (I got a complaint about this in a review). Anyway, that's all for now kids, see you in a week!**


	21. Lindsey's Surprise

Several hours later, the campers found themselves back at the hospital. It was not the best place for them to be at the moment, but they didn't have much choice. Something was wrong with Lindsey and they needed to know what. There were also those who had been injured in the battle who needed to be seen to. Tyler was alright, having been treated by Abigail, but Sadie, Heather, Ezekiel, and Noah had not been hit with the poison needles. However, after close examination, it turned out that none of them were seriously injured.

The campers sat in the waiting room once again, waiting for news. Duncan and Aneka sat apart from the others, Duncan doing his best to ignore them. Aneka was far less hostile, but still kept her distance, not wanting to cause problems at this time. For their part, the others were equally cold towards Duncan. Courtney in particular shunned her husband, but it was obvious she was fighting an internal battle over how she really felt. No one spoke, all of them too tired from the battle and too worried about Lindsey to talk. Tyler was beginning to grow restless, the lack of news making him uncomfortable. Finally the doctor showed up with news.

"How is she?" Tyler asked. "What's wrong with her? Is she hurt?"

"No, no, she's fine." the doctor replied, his voice soothing.

"What's wrong with her?" Beth asked, looking at the doctor.

"She's pregnant." the doctor replied, with a smile.

The campers stared at the doctor on shock. Tyler's eyes widened to the point of popping out of his head. Duncan looked up, interested for the first time since coming back.

"What did you say?" Tyler asked, his voice croaky from lack of saliva.

"I said she's pregnant." the doctor repeated. Another silence followed this statement, and then the others went nuts.

"Oh my God, Tyler you're gonna be a dad." Beth exclaimed, her voice excited. Katie and Sadie gave identical squeals of excitement and Geoff clapped Tyler on the back.

"Congratulations mate." said Ezekiel. "You and Lindsey get to be the first of us to have kids, eh. Isn't that great?"

"Uh, yeah." Tyler responded, though his voice sounded less than enthusiastic. He was not sure if he was happy about this or not. It was obvious to him that he was the father, Lindsey hadn't slept with anyone else, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to be a father.

"Tyler, is everything okay?" Trent asked. "You don't sound too happy about this."

"Everything's great." Tyler lied. "Yeah, it's great, this is great."

Trent looked at Tyler a moment, unsure if he was telling the truth and then shrugged.

"Can we see her?" Beth asked the doctor.

"I don't see why not." the doctor replied. "She was asking for you anyway."

The campers followed the doctor down the hall to a different room than the one they usually occupied. Lindsey was laying in her bed, propped up against some pillows. She smiled as her family entered. Tyler walked over to her and took her hand in his, smiling at her.

"Well, this is unexpected, isn't it?" Lindsey said, before Tyler could speak.

Tyler smiled again before responding. "Yes, it most certainly is." he said. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for this Lindsey, but I will support you no matter what."

"Thank you Tyler." said Lindsey. "And to be honest, I'm not ready for this either, but we don't have much of a choice now, do we?" Tyler smiled again. The truth was they did have other options, but Tyler was not willing to consider that as he knew Lindsey would not approve.

Tyler looked at the others for a moment. "Do you guys think we could have some privacy?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Certainly." said Trent. "Take as long as you need. We'll be down the hall." Tyler nodded to show his thanks, and the others left.

Once they were back in the waiting room Cody spoke. "What do you think they're talking about?" he asked.

"Probably what names they should use or something." said D.J.

"Or, maybe their discussing safe sex methods so this doesn't happen again?" Owen suggested. Izzy slugged him and rolled her eyes.

A short time later, Tyler and Lindsey joined them. Both of them were smiling and they obviously had some kind of news.

"So what were you talking about?" Cody asked, before anyone could stop him.

"Nothing much." Tyler responded. "Except we decided that we're getting married."

**A/N: Well, I'm back and ready to get the rest of the story up. In case you didn't read my note on the last chapter, I was on vacation and chose not to update. But that's all over now so we can get back on track with this fic. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading.**


	22. Another Wedding

The other campers had been taken aback by Lindsey and Tyler's news, but none of them could honestly say that they were too surprised. Lindsey was pregnant and Tyler was the father, so it made sense for them to finally make their relationship official. Still, there were those amongst the campers who questioned the timing of this situation. They were, after all, in the middle of a war with Drevis and Verizzano, which was not exactly conducive to having a wedding, but they would try. It would not be easy, but nothing the campers did anymore was, so it would not be so different from the recent past.

The wedding was to be held exactly one week from the day Lindsey's pregnancy was reveled. It would take place at the same church Izzy and Owen's wedding had been held, but there would be extra security due to the threat of attack. Lindsey decided to make Beth her matron of honor, with Katie, Sadie, Izzy, and Heather as bridesmaids. Tyler chose Cody as his best man and Trent, Owen, D.J., and Harold as his groomsmen. All of them gladly accepted their responsibilities, with the intention of making this wedding happen as quickly and smoothly as possible.

The week preceding the wedding passed in a blur, with all of the preparations taking up much of the campers time. Abigail, Brendan, Aneka, and Duncan kept a twenty four hour watch going, but neither Drevis, nor Verizzano seemed to be planing on attacking any time soon. Still, they would not take any chances. As the day grew nearer, Lindsey became worried about how she would look, with her arm still encased in a cast due to the injuries she sustained while Verizzano had held her prisoner. Katie had the same problem, as her ankle was still messed up from the same captivity. The others assured both of them that everything would work out.

"It will be okay, I promise." said Sadie, two days before the wedding. "Linds you're getting married, no one is going to notice the cast."

"I don't know Sadie, it's right there where everyone can see it." Lindsey said, uncertainly.

"Sadie's right, don't worry about it." said Heather. "You will be so beautiful no one will notice the cast, we'll make sure of that."

"Thanks guys." said Lindsey, looking around the room. "I knew I could count on you."

Finally, the day arrived and the campers once again assembled at the church. Lindsey sat in the back with her entourage thinking to herself. _Please let everything work out, _she thought. _Please let nothing bad happen today, keep our enemies from attacking, and let nothing else go wrong. _She looked up and smiled as the music began to play and her father lead her down the aisle. The others stood and cheered, but Lindsey barely heard them. She was too intent on Tyler, and finally exchanging vows with him. It had been over six years since they had first met and they were finally getting married. Tyler smiled at Lindsey as she took her place across from him. She smiled back, and then the priest stood and spoke. "Would you all please stand. We are here today to bare witness to the joining of Lindsey Allison Peterson and Tyler Malcolm Johnson." The crowd clapped and cheered and then fell silent.

The priest turned to Tyler and Lindsey and asked, "Do you Lindsey Allison Peterson take Tyler Malcolm Johnson to be your loftily wedded husband in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

Lindsey stared into Tyler's eyes and answered, "I do."

"And do you Tyler Malcolm Johnson take Lindsey Allison Peterson to be loftily wedded wife in good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Tyler looked back into Lindsey's eyes and said, "I do."

The priest then turned back to the crowd and said, "These vows represent a sacred union between these two souls. If anyone here knows of any reason why these two should not be joined, then speak now or forever hold your peace."

No one spoke, so the priest continued, "Then, by the power vested in me by the province of Ontario I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Tyler scooped Lindsey up in his arms and kissed like he had never kissed her before. The crowd again cheered and began to make their way downstairs for the wedding reception. Once everyone was downstairs Cody rose to make his speech.

"Well, it's finally happened." he said. "Lindsey and Tyler are married. We've been waiting for you two to tie the knot for over six years, and I for one was beginning to wonder if it was actually going to happen. But it has, and just want to say congratulations. You two were made for one another and I hope that your life together is long and joyful. There are no two of us better suited for one another and though it took a while for the wedding to happen, you two showed us all what love is about. To Tyler and Lindsey."

"To Tyler and Lindsey." the crowd answered back. Beth then rose to make her speech, but before she could, the lights went out.

A cold laugh echoed through the room and then a voice spoke. "How touching, another example of the weakness of love." The lights came back on and reveled Verizzano standing in the middle of the room.

"YOU!" Beth shrieked. "What are you doing here?" Duncan rose from his chair, clenching his fists and glaring at Verizzano.

"Now, now let's not be too hasty Duncan." said Verizzano. "I am simply here to offer my congratulations to the newlyweds. After all, I do have a gift." He held up a spread of his poisoned needles, grinning.

Duncan advanced towards him, fists raised, but Drevis suddenly appeared at Verizzano's side. "Victor, where are your manners?" Drevis asked. "This is a wedding, you cannot violate it like this." He grinned as though he didn't believe his own words. Verizzano backed down and Drevis turned towards the crowd. "I am terribly sorry for the interruption folks, my friend here has no sense of timing." He smiled again and looked at Duncan. "Now is not the time for fighting Duncan, but I will be coming back for you. You have another week." And with that, Drevis and Verizzano disappeared once again.

**A/N: Okay, just to make clear once again I made up the middle and last names myself since we don't actually know them. That's all I got for this on folks, hope you enjoyed.**


	23. The Affair

All things considered, Lindsey and Tyler's wedding had gone better than could be expected. With the exception of the uninvited appearance of Drevis and Verizzano, it had gone exactly as planned. Despite this, there was an air of disappointment among the campers the following day. The wedding had pushed the thought of the war to the back of their minds and now that they had been given another ultimatum, they were forced to come back to reality. But the war was not the only problem the campers had to deal with. Courtney and Trent, in particular, had a major dilemma facing them. In the weeks following her parting from Duncan, Courtney had been turning to Trent for support. Gwen seemed to be unaware of the situation, as did the others. But Trent and Courtney were well aware of what was happening between them. The problem had been further complicated by Duncan's return. Courtney was doing a pretty good job of ignoring him, but it was obvious that she was still pained by the fact that he was now with Aneka.

Trent, for his part, was more concerned about Gwen than he was about Duncan. He sensed that his relationship with Courtney could easily destroy his relationship with Gwen, which was something Trent would go to great lengths to avoid. He had promised Gwen six years earlier when they had gotten back together following their split on TDA that they would never be separated again. But Trent also sensed that he may not be able to keep that promise for much longer. He finally confronted Courtney two days after Lindsey and Tyler's wedding.

"Courtney we need to talk." Trent said, walking up to her at breakfast.

"Sure, what about?" Courtney asked, looking at him.

"Something we can't discuss here." Trent replied. Courtney looked at him, confused. Trent motioned for her to follow, but Courtney didn't move. She continued to look at Trent suspiciously, but finally shrugged and followed him.

Once they were outside, Trent turned to face her. "Okay, look I know you're going through a lot right now but this has to stop." Trent said. Courtney looked at him, confused again.

"What are you-?" she began, but Trent cut her off.

"We can't keep seeing each other." Trent clarified.

"But we're not-" Courtney began, but then she stopped, realization hitting her. "Trent do you think I'm trying to latch on to you to deal with my pain over Duncan?" she asked.

"Well, you are, aren't you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No!" Courtney said. "I would never try to come in between you and Gwen."

"Are you certain of that?" Trent asked, staring at her. "Because the last week or so you've been acting like you want more from me than just comfort."

"Trent, all I want is to escape the pain." Courtney said. "Is it so wrong if I want you to help? I just need some way-" she stopped, tears beginning to fall.

Trent looked at her for a moment before taking her face in his hands. "Courtney, listen to me." he said. "I am here for you. If I am what you need to forget Duncan than I will do whatever is necessary to help you."

Courtney smiled through her tears and leaned forward. Sensing what she wanted Trent obliged. He leaned forward to meet her and their lips touched briefly, before Courtney pulled away. She stared at Trent a moment, before he took hold of her and kissed her again, this time more passionately. Trent wrapped his arms around Courtney's waist and she wrapped hers around his. They stood for several minutes locked in their embrace before finally breaking it. Trent stared into Courtney's eyes and smiled. He had never imagined he could love someone more than Gwen, but right now, in this moment, he loved Courtney more than anyone else on Earth. And, though Trent didn't yet realize it, the feeling was mutual.

Over the next several days, the romantic tensions that had existed in undertone between Trent and Courtney, exploded into full view. The others noticed this, but Gwen seemed to be oblivious to it. However, Heather and LeShawna had distinctly unhappy viewpoints on this new development. They were unable to confirm their suspicions however, as Trent and Courtney kept their affair on the down-low around the others. Still, Heather and LeShawna had to tell Gwen, so at the very least she was aware of the possible situation.

They confronted her three days after Trent and Courtney's affair became official. "Hey Gwen, can we talk to you?" LeShawna asked.

"Yeah, sure." Gwen responded, looking up from the bowl of rice she was eating.

"We need to go outside first." said Heather. Gwen's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she followed the other two out.

"Alright, what do you guys want to talk about?" Gwen asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure how to say this, but we think-" Heather stopped and looked at LeShawna, who nodded.

Gwen looked between them. "You think what Heather?" she asked.

"We think Trent is cheating on you." said LeShawna.

"What?" Gwen asked, looking at them as though they were crazy. "That's insane. Trent would never cheat on me."

"Are you sure about that?" Heather asked. "I mean he did kiss me and he has been spending a lot of time with Courtney recently."

"Okay first of all, you tricked him into kissing you." said Gwen. "And second, Courtney is in a lot of pain because of the whole Duncan thing. I'm sure Trent is just lending her some comfort or something. It's not like they're sleeping together or anything, I think I would know if my husband wasn't sleeping with me."

"Those are fair points." said LeShawna, glancing at Heather. "But, don't you think it's a little weird for your husband to be spending so much time comforting another woman? I mean, okay Courtney is in a bad way right now, but is it really Trent's job to comfort her? She has all of us to do that, why is she only going to your husband?" She fixed Gwen with a piercing look as if to make Gwen get her point.

"Alright, fine." said Gwen. "If you two are so convinced Trent and Courtney are having an affair, I'll go talk to him, but I'm telling you there's nothing going on."

Heather and LeShawna nodded and Gwen left to find Trent. The other two had seemed pretty convinced that Trent was cheating on her, but Gwen was not so sure. It seemed to her they were just being paranoid, but Gwen did have to admit it was a little strange for Trent to be spending so much time with Courtney. One way or another she would find out the truth, even if it killed her.


	24. The Parting of Gwen and Trent

Gwen found Trent sitting outside talking with Geoff and Owen. Trent smiled as his wife approached, but Gwen did not return the gesture. She stared straight into Trent's eyes and motioned for him to follow. Trent looked at the other two, who shrugged and then followed his wife. Once they were out of earshot Gwen turned and faced her husband her expression relaxed and calm.

"So what's up?" Trent asked, trying to read Gwen's face.

Gwen hesitated a moment before answering. "Well, I just talked to LeShawna and Heather and they have this funny notion that you're having an affair with Courtney." Her voice was calm, but Trent could sense the intensity behind it.

"What?" Trent asked. "What would make them think that?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Gwen replied. "Because they seemed pretty sure."

"Well you don't believe them, do you?" Trent asked. "I mean, you know I would never do something like that to you."

"Do I?" Gwen asked, her eyes boring into his.

"Come on Gwen, do you even hear yourself?" Trent asked. "I would never cheat on you. This is just Heather trying to split us up again."

"Then explain to me why LeShawna is with her." said Gwen. "If this is just Heather being a bitch again, why is LeShawna helping her?"

"I don't know." said Trent. "Maybe she's gone off the deep end or something."

Gwen glared at him. "LeShawna is my friend, I highly doubt she would betray me."

"And you think I would?" Trent asked, looking at Gwen in disbelief. "I'm your husband Gwen, why would you put more trust in LeShawna than you would me?"

"Because, LeShawna's never betrayed me before." Gwen replied.

"Oh we're back on that now are we?" Trent asked rolling his eyes. "You know the only reason I left you buried on the beach is because I was being chased by a goddamn mime. When are you gonna let that go, it's been over six years."

Gwen's eyes blazed. "I was justified in that and it wasn't the only time. What about when you kissed Heather? What's your excuse for that?"

"You know I was tricked into that." said Trent. "That was Heather's treachery at work and you know it."

"So, are you having an affair with Courtney or not?" Gwen asked, abruptly.

Trent didn't answer immediately, instead choosing to look at the pavement. Gwen looked around to find the cause of his distraction and saw the rest of the campers had joined them. They were all staring at Gwen and Trent with a mixture of shock, confusion, and intense interest. Trent finally looked up into Gwen's eyes. "Yes." he said, his voice barely audible. "Yes, I am having an affair with Courtney." There were gasps of shock from the others and Gwen's eyes widened in horror. She backed away from Trent, staring at him like he was a horror from her nightmares.

"Why?" she croaked. "Why would you do this to me?"

Trent looked around at the others, his face riddled with guilt. "I had to." he whispered. "I had to. Courtney was in such pain after Duncan and she needed some one to be with."

"Why you though?" Gwen asked, tears now beginning to fall. "She had everyone to comfort her, she had all of us. Why did you have to turn it into something else?"

Trent did not answer and Gwen fell to her knees, looking around at the others. Her eyes found Courtney, who turned away from Gwen's stare. "Why Courtney?" Gwen asked. "Why did you choose Trent?"

Courtney did not answer and continued to hide her face from Gwen. LeShawna stepped forward and helped Gwen to her feet. "I'm sorry honey." she whispered.

Gwen shrugged LeShawna off and flung herself at Trent, knocking him to the ground and throwing punches. "How could betray me like this you bastard." she screamed. A pair of strong hands closed on Gwen's shoulders as D.J. pulled her off.

"That's enough Gwen." he said. "You've got to let him breath."

"No, no!" Gwen screamed. "He deserves it, he deserves it the cheating fuck-" Her sentence died as she broke down into full on tears.

"Well, isn't this nice?" said Duncan, casting a disgusted look at Courtney. "I guess you didn't need me as badly as you thought you did? Seems like Trent suits you just fine."

"Shut up Duncan." Geoff snapped. "You're not perfect either."

"Get bent." Duncan growled, before turning and walking away, Aneka following a few seconds later.

Trent stared at the others, but none of them moved to condemn him. Geoff walked over and placed a hand on Trent's shoulder. "You and Courtney may want to leave, just for a bit, let the situation cool down you know?"

Trent nodded and walked away. Courtney cast on last sorrowful look at the others and then followed Trent.

The others remained grouped around Gwen, who was still sobbing on the pavement. After a few moments Justin broke the silence. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked. "First Duncan and Courtney split and now Gwen and Trent have too. It's like someone wants this to happen."

"You may have a point there." said Noah, with a glance at Gwen. "I said it was a dark day when we reached the parting of Duncan and Courtney. Well, apparently the day marked by the parting of Gwen and Trent is even darker. I don't know what this means, but I do know one thing, darker days are sure to come."


	25. The Road Darkens

The next day Gwen awoke expecting to find Trent lying next to her to prove it had all been a horrible dream, but he wasn't there. It was then that Gwen realized it had really been real, Trent had cheated on her with Courtney and they had left, presumably for good. As this cold reality washed over her, fresh tears sprang to Gwen's eyes. She had fought crying all night and her body ached from the effort, but the physical pain no longer seemed to matter. All that was left was the emotional damage, stinging like salt in a gaping wound. Gwen could not think of a time when she had felt worse. True she had felt this pain before, but this time it appeared to be permanent. Trent had been her whole life, her reason for being, and now there was nothing.

The others had no idea how to help Gwen through her ordeal. None of them had felt pain like this before, none of them had been betrayed by the person they loved. Besides, they had the looming confrontation with Drevis and Verizzano to look forward to, again. Noah's words from the previous day seemed to be becoming truth incarnate, the road was most certainly growing darker. The entire situation was unfavorable, Gwen was dealing with her fractured emotions, Drevis and Verizzano were breathing down their necks, and they were now down four soldiers. Duncan and Aneka had come back, but after the split of Gwen and Trent it seemed unlikely that Duncan would be willing to return again. And Trent and Courtney were now gone, and no one knew if they would return.

"God this sucks!" Tyler said at breakfast. "This whole situation blows. What the fuck are we supposed to do now?"

"We have to keep moving forward." said Noah, with a sigh.

"And how are we supposed to that, eh?" asked Ezekiel. "How are we supposed to just ignore all that has happened and move on?"

"Look, I realize this is painful for everyone." said Noah. "I know Gwen is suffering, I know we need Duncan, Trent, Courtney, and Aneka, but what choice do we have? If we sit and wallow in our sorrow, we'll never have a chance of defeating Drevis and Verizzano."

"Noah, do you really think we're gonna win?" Sadie asked, looking at him skeptically.

"Yes, I do." Noah replied. "But only if we push past this and rise above our sorrow."

"But, don't you think we should give Gwen a chance to recover first?" LeShawna asked.

"No." Gwen said, as she entered the room. "Noah is right, we have to push forward."

"Gwen!" Bridgette cried. "How are you doing?"

Gwen looked at Bridgette with a sorrowful expression on her face. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, and she was paler than usual. "I'm fine." she replied.

"Are you sure?" Bridgette asked. "You look horrible, like you didn't get any sleep last night." She cocked any eyebrow as she stared at Gwen.

"Yes, I'm fine." Gwen said again. "We have a battle to prepare for, so lets get to it."

The others could see that Gwen was hiding how she truly felt. It was obvious that she was anything but fine, but she seemed determined to ignore the situation so none of them pressed the issue. They got to work on the plans for the next battle, putting all their energy into it.

Meanwhile, Trent and Courtney found themselves in the park. They had not spoken to each other since they had left the hotel, though it was obvious they both wanted to. The events of the previous day had left deep scars on their souls as well, and they were both trying to figure out a way to work through the pain. Courtney had gotten the worse end of the stick, as she had truly never intended to ruin Trent's marriage to Gwen. She had only wanted someone to rely on to help her through the pain of her split from Duncan, and now she had caused another rift. She looked at Trent and opened her mouth to speak, finally breaking their silence.

"Trent?" she said. "I'm sorry. I never meant to pull you away from Gwen."

Trent looked at her. "I know Courtney." he replied. "I wish this could have worked out differently, but it didn't and we can't change it now."

"Well, isn't that sentimental?" said Duncan, as he and Aneka walked up.

"What the fuck do you want?" Trent snapped, glaring at Duncan.

"Hey, don't get all pissy with me." Duncan shot back. "We're all outcasts now."

"No, we're not." said Aneka. "The others still need us and whether they want us or not, we will help them. And whether you three want to or not you will get over your ill feelings for one another and join me. Remember, I can force you."

The other three nodded in agreement. They would go back, but no matter what Aneka said, Duncan remained convinced that they were no longer welcome among the others.

Back at the hotel, the rest of the group were still in the midst of their planning. Izzy, Chef, and Abigail had come up with a complex battle strategy, one they were sure would work. The others were on board with the plan, but many of them were not as sure it would be successful. Still, it would be their working strategy for the time being.

After concluding their meeting the campers broke for the evening. They would get back to planning the following day, but now it was time for a break. Gwen went back upstairs to her room to try and get some sleep, but the others went about with other activities. Geoff and Bridgette went to their room to watch a movie, and were joined by Izzy, Owen, Noah, and Eva. Tyler and Lindsey, did the same, and were joined by Beth, Cody, Justin, and Heather. Katie and Sadie went to the hotel pool for a swim. Harold, LeShawna, and D.J. would join them and Ezekiel, Chris, and Chef headed to the hotel bar. Abigail went up to her room to go over the battle plan and make sure it was solid. Brendan, unnoticed by anyone, slipped out of the hotel and headed for the park, which was now deserted.

Brendan headed for the clump of trees the campers had hidden in the night they first met Verizzano. It seemed like he was looking for something, and after a few moments of searching, his face lit up in a sadistic smile. He held a small metallic device which he spoke into. "They have plans for the next battle." Brendan said. "You will be able to easily defeat it however."

"Good." a deep, cold voice said right behind him. Brendan spun around and found himself face to face with Drevis and Verizzano.

"Ah, Drevis you scared me." Brendan breathed.

Drevis laughed and then spoke. "So, the great Brendan DuVall is afraid of something after all. That is highly amusing. Regardless, you have done well DuVall. With this information, we can finally bring an end to this war. In three days, we unleash hell."

**A/N: Well there's chapter 25. Just so you're all aware we're about to get into the really intense part of this fic so buckle up for safety cuz it's gonna be one wild ride!**


	26. The Betrayal

The following morning, the campers awoke to find Duncan, Aneka, Trent, and Courtney waiting in the lobby. Aneka wore a smile, but the other three look less than enthusiastic to be there. This did not go unnoticed by the others, who gave the foursome looks of utter loathing.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Heather said. "What are you four doing here?"

"We came to offer our help in the impending battle." Aneka replied, casually.

"Well, we don't want or need your help." said Noah, fixing Aneka with a intense stare. "We already have a plan and I don't think there's room to work you in."

Duncan looked at Aneka. "See, I told you they wouldn't accept us back. They're too stuck in their ways, to stubborn and ignorant to welcome help when it's staring them in the face."

"Eat shit." Tyler spat. "You're the ignorant one, or have you forgotten that you broke your wife's heart by fucking the assassin standing next to you?"

"Do you want to die, you little shit." Duncan growled, advancing towards Tyler.

"ENOUGH!" Aneka shouted. "We are not your enemy and you are not ours. But Drevis and Verizzano are, and whether you all like it or not the only way we're going to beat them is if we work together."

"I understand that Aneka." said Noah. "But I just don't see how this is gonna work. Too many feelings have been hurt, too many friendships broken. By allowing the four of you back into the group, we risk opening recent wounds, and we can't afford any emotional breakdowns in the middle of battle. I'm sorry, we can't allow-" Noah stopped as Gwen stepped forward.

"No Noah." she said. "We can make this work." She was looking at Trent and Courtney as she spoke, but she remained calm. "I've just got an idea and it will require that all of us are present to work." She looked at Noah, and then the others. "Aneka is right, we can only win if we work as one, putting aside any recent disagreements. I know I can work with Trent and Courtney, and Duncan and Aneka, despite the things they've done. And if I can the rest of you should be able to as well."

Noah sighed. "Alright, you can rejoin. But this is the last time."

Duncan's jaw twitched, but he remained calm. Aneka nodded in agreement of the terms, as did Trent and Courtney. Trent looked at Gwen and said, "Thanks, for showing faith." Gwen looked at him, but did not respond.

The campers headed up to their main meeting room, where they found breakfast waiting. Owen's face lit up at the sight of the food. "Man I love this hotel." he said as he began digging in.

"So, Gwen lets hear about this idea of yours." said Chef, once they were all settled.

Gwen nodded and spoke. "Okay, I know we already have a battle plan, but I was thinking we should bring the fight to Drevis and Verizzano first. A small tactical unit makes contact with them and takes them out before they can launch another full scale assault."

"It's a good idea, in theory, but it will be very risky." said Abigail. "That said, I think we should give it a shot."

Gwen looked at Abigail in surprise. She had not expected any of them to go along with her plan so quickly. She had expected to receive opposition, and was taken aback by the sudden acceptance of her ideas.

"I must say I agree with Abigail on this." said Noah. "The only question is, how do we get the two of them alone so we can stage this operation?"

"We make contact with them, tell them we want to negotiate a surrender." said D.J.

"That might work." said Brendan. "Although they are not really looking for a surrender, they want us dead, but it is worth a shot."

"Then it's agreed, we try Gwen's idea and use the plan as a backup." said Chris. The others nodded in agreement. Brendan got up and left the room, saying he would go contact Drevis and Verizzano. Chris turned to Gwen, "So who were you thinking of using for this team?"

"Why do I get to choose?" Gwen asked, looking at Chris.

"It's your idea, so you choose who gets to go." Chris replied.

"Alright." said Gwen. "Then I choose Abigail, Aneka, Brendan, Chef, Duncan, and D.J., along with myself, of course."

"You weren't lying when you said you were willing to look past recent shortcomings, were you?" Duncan asked, looking Gwen in the eye.

"No, I wasn't." she responded, looking away from him.

Brendan reentered the room. "Contact has been made." he said. "They have agreed to meet us tomorrow at noon."

Gwen nodded. "Good." She then left the room to think over her team. Gwen was sure she could deal with the possible dislike amongst the others. She was also sure that this group could get the job done. Little did she know, bringing Brendan along had doomed the plan from the start.

The following day Gwen's group set out just before noon, heading to the warehouse district, which Drevis had named as the meeting place. They arrived to find Drevis and Verizzano waiting for them in front of the warehouse Dorian had held Katie and Sadie captive in six months earlier. Drevis smiled as Gwen's group approached.

"So, you wish to negotiate a surrender do you?" Drevis asked. Gwen nodded, keeping her eyes on the half demon. "Sadly," Drevis continued, "I must inform you that this is not possible. You see, I want to kill you, and if I just let you surrender, how am I supposed to do that?"

"I'm sure you can figure something out." said Duncan.

"You would think so." said Brendan. "But Drevis is very set in his ways, you know."

"Brendan, what are you talking about?" Abigail asked.

Brendan did not answer, but walked forward, as though he was about to attack Drevis. But, before the others could pull him back he turned to face them, drawing a gun in the process. A grin crossed his face, along with Drevis and Verizzano's.

"Brendan, what the hell are you doing?" Aneka said, staring at her brother.

"I am joining the winning side." Brendan replied. "Or, rather, I am revealing my true allegiance to you. I have been working for Drevis since the night Victor showed up."

"You fucking traitor!" Duncan shouted. "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Calm yourself Duncan." said Brendan. "Don't forget that you too have betrayed those you consider family."

"Why are you doing this?" Gwen asked, her eyes wide.

"I told you, this is the winning side." Brendan replied gesturing at Drevis. "It's nothing personal." And with that he raised his gun and shot Abigail in the head.


	27. The Death of Abigail Locke

Abigail hit the ground and was still. The others stared at her a moment before D.J. lunged at Brendan, taking him by surprise. Brendan managed to get off one shot, hitting D.J. in the shoulder, before D.J. collided with him. D.J. threw the assassin to the ground, punching him in the face repeatedly. "You bastard, I'll kill you, I'LL KILL YOU!" D.J. screamed, as he continued to beat Brendan into the pavement.

Suddenly Drevis stepped forward, drilling D.J. in the face with a backhanded punch, sending D.J. flying. Drevis took hold of Brendan, pulling him to his feet. With one last satisfied smile, he disappeared, taking Brendan with him. Verizzano followed after he too gave the others a final smile.

Aneka stared at the spot where the three of them had stood, her eyes wide with shock. She had never dreamed her brother would betray her, and a numbness swept through her as the reality hit. She turned to the others, who were just as shocked as she was. Duncan held the gun that Brendan had dropped, and was staring at Abigail in shock. Chef was holding D.J. steady and D.J. was staring at Abigail with a hollow, vacant look in his eyes. Blood was streaming from his nose and a deep cut above his right eye. Gwen was on her phone, calling the paramedics, though she knew it was already too late.

Twenty minutes later, the paramedics arrived at the scene, along with the police. The paramedics confirmed what the others already knew, Abigail Locke was dead. The police asked a few questions, but it quickly became apparent to them that this was out of their hands. They allowed the others to leave with Abigail's body, assuring them they would search the area for Brendan, though no one expected him to be found. After spending a short time at the hospital, during which D.J. was patched up, Gwen's group returned to the hotel.

They found the others waiting for them in the lobby. Chris smiled as they entered, but his smile quickly faded when he saw the looks on their faces. He also noticed the two missing from their number, as did the others.

"What happened?" Chris asked. "Where are Brendan and Abigail?"

Chef looked his friend in the eye. "Abigail is dead." he said solemnly.

Chris' eyes widened in horror. "How?" he asked, as gasps of shock and horror emanated from the others.

"Brendan betrayed us." said Duncan, not looking at the others.

"Oh, God." said Trent. "Why? Why would he do that to us?"

"Because that is the kind of person my brother is." Aneka replied. "Brendan has always been a cold and merciless killer. He hates the world, it stems from our parents death's, I suppose. They were murdered, when we were young, and Brendan has never gotten over that. I thought he had reformed when Luminous brought us back, but I was wrong, he is just as cold and cruel as ever. I wish I had seen it sooner, then I could have prevented this. He's been on Drevis' side ever since Verizzano first attacked, and I was too blinded by my feelings to see that he was our enemy. This is all my fault and I'm sorry." Aneka fell silent, the tears finally beginning to fall. The others stood in silence watching Aneka, trying to absorb the magnitude of all they had just heard.

Finally, Gwen approached her, placing an arm around Aneka's shoulders. "Aneka, it's not your fault." she said. "Brendan is your brother, you had no reason to suspect him, none of us did. We all thought he had simply stayed behind to fight Verizzano that night. We had no way of knowing that he had made a deal with that psycho."

"But, I knew him." Aneka replied. "I knew his past, I knew what he was like, I knew there was a chance something like this might happen. And so did Luminous, he took a huge risk bringing either of us back, and now it's too late."

"That doesn't change that fact that you didn't know about his betrayal until today." said Chef, looking Aneka in the eyes.

"Gwen and Chef are right." said Noah. "Aneka, you are still a trusted member of this family, and no matter what your brother does, we will not turn our backs on you."

Aneka looked around at all of them and nodded. "Thank you, all of you." she said.

"No problem." said Izzy. "I always knew you were the more honorable DuVall anyway."

Aneka chuckled at Izzy's joke, but was still not completely comforted. Abigail had been her friend and Aneka would not feel relief until Brendan had been brought to justice. She was not the only one who felt this way, but D.J. was still too shocked to reveal his desires for revenge.

"So, where do we go from here?" Katie asked, looking around the room.

"We press on with our battle plan." said Gwen. "My idea was a failure, so we're back to square one. Good thing we had a backup plan."

"It won't be enough." said Aneka. "Abigail was a major part of that plan, and with her gone, our chances of success are greatly diminished."

At these words, D.J. got up a left the room. "D.J.?" Tyler called, but D.J. did not respond.

"What's wrong with him, I mean, besides the obvious?" Cody asked.

"Do none of you know?" Aneka asked, looking at them.

"Know what?" Lindsey asked, confused.

"D.J. and Abigail were, you know, together." said Aneka.

"What?" said Heather. "Are you serious?" They all stared at Aneka for a moment before realization finally hit. It had been so obvious. D.J. and Abigail had been spending more and more time together, ever since the end of the war with Dorian. How could none of them have seen it?

"Oh, God. He loved her, didn't he?" Duncan asked. Aneka nodded. "That explains why he reacted so violently after Brendan shot her. I thought he was just the first of us to react, but this makes more sense."

"She was my soul." a tearful D.J. said from the doorway. He had obviously not gone far, and overheard their conversation. "She was everything I ever wanted and that bastard took her from me. I will avenge her, I will see Brendan burn, one way or another I will take his life."

The following day the campers laid Abigail to rest in the same fashion they had her father. Abigail's body was burned as a mark of the true warrior within her. As the campers paid their respects, it was with the realization that they had now lost both of the friends who had helped them defeat Dorian. It was this knowledge that would propel them forward towards the final battle with Drevis, Verizzano, and now Brendan. They were now more determined than ever to end this war, none of them more so than D.J., who as he stared into the flames, reaffirmed his promise. "I promise you Abigail, no matter what happens I will avenge you. I will make Brendan pay."

**A/N: Well, there you go. I finally killed someone in this fic. I know Abigail wasn't a major character, but her death will have long ranging effects on the campers success. What are the consequences of losing Abigail and will D.J. get his revenge? Stay tuned to find out.**


	28. Into the Fire

The next several days passed without much in the way of activity. D.J. was intent on gaining revenge for Abigail, but he was still recovering from the gunshot wound he had received from Brendan. Still, he would not let this stop him for much longer, every day that Brendan continued to live was another day wasted. The others wanted to see Brendan brought to justice too, but they had the threat of Drevis and Verizzano to deal with as well. D.J. was not alone in his quest however, Aneka was also determined to make her brother pay, even though she knew it would be painful to watch him die. Aneka had always been close to her brother and did not want to be the one to deal him death, but he had betrayed her and the others, and he had to pay for that. On the fifth day after Abigail's funeral Aneka met with D.J. to discuss their shared pain.

"D.J. we need to talk." Aneka said, not looking at him.

"I know." D.J. replied, staring right at her. "I know what you want to talk about too, but I'm not changing my mind, I am going to kill your brother."

"I'm not here to stop you." Aneka said, finally looking at him. "I know the pain you feel and I know Brendan must die for what he did. I just want you to think before you go running off to get revenge. You have to be careful, Brendan is highly trained, and he has Drevis and Verizzano to back him up now."

"I know." D.J. said again. "But they won't stop me. I'll kill them too."

"That's the problem with your thinking D.J." said Aneka. "You can't take on all three of them by yourself, you'll get killed and you can't very well avenge Abigail if you're dead."

"You think that matters to me now?" D.J. asked, almost shouting. "As long as I take Brendan with me I don't give a shit what happens to me."

"And do you think that's what Abigail would want you to think?" Aneka asked.

D.J. didn't answer. He knew Abigail would not want him running off to get himself killed, but what choice did he have? He had sworn vengeance and he would have it, no matter what happened to him in the process.

"Look, let's discuss this with the others, see what they think." Aneka suggested.

"There's nothing to discuss." said D.J. "I'm going after Brendan and that's final, no one is going to stop me."

"I'm sorry to say this D.J., but we are." said Chef, entering the room, followed by the others. "We all know you want revenge, but you cannot just run headlong into death."

"Fuck you." D.J. snapped. "How can you possibly know how I feel? Abby was my soul, goddamn it, I loved her. How can any of you possibly know what this feels like, to lose the person you love most to death?"

"You're forgetting that this has happened to many of us already." said Trent. "So we know exactly how you feel. When Gwen died, I felt the same pain you're feeling now, the same sense of loss, the same hopelessness. We all know what you're going through D.J., so please listen."

"But it's not the same." D.J. countered. "Gwen came back, all of you came back. Abigail isn't going to. She lost her one chance because of the deal Thomas made with Luminous. She didn't even die in the war with Dorian and she still lost her one chance, simply because that protection held for all of us."

"You're wrong D.J." said Aneka. "The protection may have taken Abigail's one chance at returning, but that doesn't change the fact that we know your pain. Yes all of us, including yourself, who died during the war with Dorian came back, and yes we lost our one chance because of it, but we came back for a reason, maybe it was Abigail's time to go."

"Don't say that, don't you dare say that." D.J. spat, glaring at Aneka. Aneka hung her head, ashamed by her words.

"D.J., don't you see what Aneka is trying to say?" Sadie asked. "You don't have Luminous' protection anymore either, so if you die you won't come back."

"Again, I ask you, do you think that-?" D.J. began, but Gwen cut him off.

"Or course it matters D.J." she snapped. "You matter, and we will not let you throw your life away in the pursuit of blind vengeance. If you're going to kill Brendan, you're going to do it with backup and not until we are all ready to face not only him, but Drevis and Verizzano as well."

D.J. stared at Gwen a moment before relenting. "Fine." he muttered. "I won't go after Brendan alone."

"Good." said Aneka. "You're making the right decision D.J. You're not giving into your impulses and throwing yourself into the fire alone. You'll have a plan and because of that you will succeed in gaining your revenge."

D.J. nodded and left the room. The others lingered a moment before going their own ways again. The matter was settled, D.J. would develop a plan first and everything would work out in the end. Or so they all thought.

Later that night, Duncan got up to take a piss when he noticed the weapons cabinet was open. As he moved closer to investigate, he noticed several guns were missing and there was a note taped to the door, written in D.J.'s hand. _I'm sorry for doing this, but I couldn't sit around and wait. I know you guys are going to be pissed, but I don't care. I'm taking the initiative and throwing myself into the fire. This battle is between me and Brendan, so please don't come after me. Thank you all for being such great friends, I hope to see you all again someday. With love, D.J._

Duncan stared at the note a moment before realizing what it meant. "Damn it D.J." he muttered as he turned to warn the others.


	29. DJ's Revenge

D.J. paused for a moment to catch his breath. It had been over two hours since he had left the hotel to find Brendan. Truthfully D.J. had no idea where to look, but that would not stop him from trying. His first thought had been to find Verizzano's hideout again, until he remembered they had burned it down. But there had to be some other place the enemy was hiding in, D.J. just had to figure out where. So far however, his search was proving to be fruitless.

As D.J. stood there, he thought about turning around and heading back to the others, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. He had come too far already, and he was not willing to face their anger for going against their wishes. He knew it was not fair to them, to put his life on the line like this, but this was something D.J. had to face on his own. Better he go alone and die, instead of leading his friends to their doom too. After resting for a moment longer, D.J. continued on his way heading for the north side of the city. No sooner had he begun searching when he heard a voice behind him.

"I hear you're looking for me D.J." Brendan's voice said, echoing off the surrounding buildings. D.J. turned and glared at the man who had killed his love.

"So what if I am?" he snarled, hatred burning in every word. "You're not gonna stop me."

"Oh, be assured, I do not intend on stopping you." said Brendan. "I welcome this challenge, and I assure you by the end of it you will see your precious Abigail again."

"Get bent!" D.J. spat. "You're not worthy of speaking her name, you piece of shit."

"Yes, that's right, make Abigail out to be the hero." said Brendan. "But do not forget, I knew her long before you did. I wonder, would you hold her in such high esteem if you knew the truth about her?" His mouth curled into a mocking smile.

D.J. froze for a brief moment, but recovered quickly. He knew Abigail's past was not clean, but he did not care. She had seen past his faults and he had seen past hers, that was all that mattered.

He looked at Brendan, who was still smiling. "Did you know Abigail was once a member of the Shadow Guild?" he asked, watching D.J. closely. "Did you know she was responsible for more deaths than my sister or myself?" D.J.'s hand twitched, but he kept his cool.

"Hmm, perhaps you did know these things." said Brendan, taking his eyes off D.J. for a fraction of a second. "But did you know she despised working with you pathetic bags? She hated you, all of you, but she reserved special hatred for you D.J. She couldn't stand to look at you, she was going to kill you. She loved me and she was going to join-" WHAM! Brendan was sent flying backwards as D.J.'s fist connected with his face.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" D.J. shouted. "You didn't know her, you didn't love her, you hated her, she told me."

Brendan smiled. "No D.J., I loved her just as much as you do. But I was the one she wanted. I was the one who could give her what she wanted. Not you." Another punch connected with his face, knocking him to the ground again.

"LIER!" D.J. shouted again. "It's all lies, you never loved her and you killed her and now I'm gonna kill you."

With that he reached down and grabbed Brendan by the head, and hurled him into a parked car. Before Brendan had time to react, D.J. was on top of him, punching him in the face. Brendan kicked D.J. hard in the stomach allowing him to get free. He spun away from D.J., drawing his blade in the process. He swung hard at D.J.'s head, but D.J. ducked in time to avoid the blow. He sprang up, grabbing Brendan and slammed him into the pavement. Brendan recovered quickly however and was back on his feet before D.J. knew what had happened. Brendan kicked D.J. in the ribs, bringing him to his knees, but D.J. again avoided Brendan's blade.

They traded blows for several more minutes, before Brendan caught D.J. in the arm with his blade. The cut was deep, and stopped D.J. long enough for Brendan to plunge his blade into D.J.'s midsection. D.J. gasped in pain as the blade sliced through his flesh. However, to Brendan's surprise, D.J. quickly shook the injury off. He punched Brendan in the face, forcing Brendan to let go of his blade as he stumbled backwards. D.J. pulled the blade from his midsection and tossed it aside before tackling Brendan, pinning his arms to his side. D.J. then lifted Brendan and heaved him over his head in a belly to belly suplex. Brendan landed hard but rolled away from D.J., retrieving his blade in the process. Once he was on his feet he drove it into D.J.'s midsection for a second time. D.J. pushed him away again, but fell to his knees this time, coughing up blood.

Brendan withdrew his blade and went for the kill shot, but D.J. grabbed the blade at the last second. Brendan spun, kicking D.J. in the head, knocking him over and causing him to release the blade. As D.J. pushed himself back up, Brendan struck, driving the blade through D.J.'s chest this time, missing his heart by inches. Brendan pulled the blade out once again, and D.J. collapsed, onto his back. Brendan smiled and bent down, leaning in to whisper in D.J.'s ear.

"You were right D.J., I never did love Abigail, but see how it worked at luring you into a battle you knew you couldn't win." he said. "Abigail was a whore, a useless, talentless whore. And you have the honor of dying for her, it's a fitting end for a man as useless as you." Brendan laughed as he stood and walked away.

D.J. reached up at him, but was too weak to rise and continue the battle. "Damn you Brendan." he gasped. D.J. could feel the darkness of death coming as he lay there on the pavement. He stared up at the stars, and said, "I'm sorry Abigail, sorry I wasn't able to avenge you. I wasn't strong enough to beat him, I failed and I apologize...for that..." His voice trailed off as darkness took him, turning quickly into a radiant white light. The first thing he saw was a human shape in the distance beckoning to him. He felt a sensation of floating, nothing like the black, dead world he had entered the last time he had crossed over.

He approached the figure and saw that it was Abigail. She embraced him and smiled. "D.J., you got your revenge." she said. "You fought Brendan, you defended my honor, and that is good enough for me. I expected nothing less of you."

As they stared at one another, D.J. heard his name calling from somewhere far off. He looked at Abigail, who nodded, confirming what he feared. "Yes, you must go back, it is not your time yet. We will meet again one day, so go, live and be happy."

Abigail faded and with her the shimmering white of the light. D.J. felt himself reenter the darkness and then his eyes opened revealing the blurry outlines of several people.

"Come on D.J., damn it, don't you fucking die on us." he heard Duncan's voice. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, which he quickly realized was Duncan's hands as the punk tried to revive him.

"Duncan, Duncan." D.J. heard Gwen's voice, from far off. "He's-"

"No!" Duncan shouted. "He's not dead, not yet. Damn you D.J. Harris you come back to this world right now, or I'm gonna cross over and kick your ass."

At that moment, D.J. gave a huge gasp and lurched back to the world of the living. Duncan jumped back from him, startled. "Oh shit, D.J." he gasped in surprise.

D.J.'s eyes searched around him and he saw that they were all there. He was glad to see them, but was unable to tell them at the moment, due to the massive injuries he had sustained. He had seen Abigail again, but she had told him to come back, he was alive and he would get another chance.

"Well let's get him to the hospital." said Chef. "We'll find out what happened later."

D.J. smiled, he was still alive and he had his family with him. The last thing he remembered was the paramedics loading him into an ambulance and then everything went black again.


	30. The Second Battle

Several hours later, D.J. awoke to find himself lying in a hospital bed. He could not remember passing out, but figured he must have been put under for some kind of surgery. For a moment D.J. stared at the ceiling, lost in thought, before becoming aware of another presence in the room. He lifted his head and found Duncan sitting in a chair at the foot of his bed. He appeared to be asleep, but D.J. could not be sure. D.J. stared at Duncan a moment longer, and then went back to thinking, not wanting to confront Duncan just yet.

The events of the past six hours swirled in D.J.'s head, making him dizzy. He had failed in his mission to kill Brendan, but that did not seem to matter now. He had seen Abigail again and that had wiped away all feelings of failure. Still, D.J. was disappointed with himself, as he would now have to answer to the others for his irresponsible actions. They had been right, he never should have gone after Brendan on his own, and he was extremely lucky to be alive. It was a mistake D.J. would not make again, he could not let his desire for revenge blind him like that again. Next time, he might not be so lucky. There was one thing D.J. could not figure out though, why had Brendan not finished him off? Why did Brendan leave before confirming that D.J. was dead? D.J. had no answers for his own questions, but there had to be one.

The sound of the door opening drew D.J. out of his reverie. He glanced over and saw Gwen standing in the doorway, staring at him. She smiled and walked over to his bed.

"You gave us a real scare back there D.J." she whispered. "We really thought we'd lost you." She smiled again. At that moment Duncan gave a grunting snore and jerked awake.

"Ah, D.J., you're awake you stupid bastard." Duncan said, a smile crossing his face too.

"Yeah, sorry about that." said D.J., grinning back at them.

Just then, the others entered all of them waring smiles. D.J. was taken aback by this, he had been expecting them to be angry with him.

"Uh, what's going on here?" he asked, staring at his friends.

"What do you mean D.J.?" Courtney asked, looking at him.

"Well, I just thought you'd all be pissed at me for what I did." D.J. said.

"Oh, trust us, we are." said Chef. "But we're also glad you're alive, so it's kinda hard to stay pissed off, you know?"

Before D.J. could answer Duncan cut in. "Don't get Chef wrong, what you did was extremely stupid." he said, fixing D.J. with a serious stare. "If we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now."

"I realize that." said D.J. "But, I think I did the right thing. However, since I obviously upset you all by acting outside of the rules of this family, I will apologize. So, I'm sorry, it won't happen again." He nodded, to show the sincerity of his statement.

The others nodded to show they accepted his apology. Duncan then asked his next question. "So, what happened between you and Brendan?"

D.J. sighed, and gasped in pain. "Well, he insulted Abigail, then tried to convince me she was going to betray us and join him. I charged him, we fought, he stabbed me, and then I entered the ether between planes, and I saw her."

"You saw Abigail?" Aneka asked, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

"Yes, and she told me to go back to the world of the living, that it wasn't my time." said D.J., looking down at the floor.

"Shit, dude that's heavy." said Geoff, placing a hand on D.J.'s shoulder.

D.J. nodded and asked, "So, what's next? Obviously I'm stuck here, but Brendan still has to pay for what he did. So, how are we gonna do it?"

"Well, judging by the shape we found you in, I don't think anyone else should go after him alone." said Trent.

"Agreed." said Aneka. "We will organize a team, consisting of those who know my brother best, myself, Chef, Duncan, and Gwen. The four of us should be enough to kill him. The rest of you should prepare yourselves just in case we are unsuccessful."

The others nodded and left the room leaving only Aneka, Gwen, Duncan, Chef, and D.J. to discuss the plans for taking out Brendan.

"Okay, D.J. we need to know anything you can tell us about my brother from your battle." said Aneka. "Any injuries you may have given him would be particularly helpful."

"I can't remember any specific injuries, but I did hit him with quite a few hard shots." said D.J. "So, he may have some injuries to his face. Sorry, that's not much."

"It won't hurt." said Aneka. She then proceeded to lay out the plan. The others listened, giving input when needed, except for Gwen who was only half listening, for she already had a plan of her own.

Several hours later, Gwen found herself standing outside the hotel, preparing to go after Brendan alone. She knew she was being just as foolish as D.J. had been, but she felt somehow responsible for Brendan's betrayal. She had been the one who had killed him the first time and she felt it was because of this that he was getting his revenge through her friends.

Gwen set out making it only a few blocks from the hotel when she ran into her target. Brendan was standing in the middle of the deserted street, his sword drawn, and a smile on his face.

"So, Gwen, we meet in combat once again." he said, nodding at her. "I had a feeling you would come after me alone. You are, after all, the reason why I betrayed your pathetic little family. You may be able to convince Aneka that you are worthy of power, but I see through your charade. I will never submit to weakness like her, and I will not let you kill me again."

With that, he charged Gwen, who barely managed to raise her blade in time to deflect his. Gwen knew how Brendan's combat style worked and she was ready for him. She fought back with skill above that she had possessed during their first battle. But Brendan was still the seasoned veteran of combat, and he was able to deflect nearly all of Gwen's attacks.

Brendan caught Gwen's blade with a powerful swing, shattering it. He then kicked her in the knee. Gwen fell as her right leg buckled and snapped from the force of the blow. Brendan smiled as he drilled Gwen in the face, knocking her backwards. He then kicked her repeatedly, cracking several of her ribs. As a final blow he stepped on her arm crushing it as well. Finally he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her on to her knees.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Looks like I win this one. The second battle is mine." He placed his blade at her throat and continued. "This time I get to live and you get to die. It is poetic justice don't you think? We have finally come full circ-" He stopped as he felt the tip of another blade in between his shoulder blades. Brendan looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened at what he saw. The person holding the blade was the last person he expected, Aneka.

**A/N: Okay, just to clarify, the title of this chapter is in reference to this being the second time Gwen and Brendan have fought. Their first battle was in chapter 37 of the Hunted, appropriately titled Gwen's Battle.**


	31. An Assassin's Fall

Brendan spun to meet his sister, dropping Gwen in the process. His blade hit Aneka's, clanging loudly. Brendan smiled and kicked Aneka in the midsection, knocking her backwards. It was at that moment Brendan realized Aneka was not the only one there. Chef stood just behind her, a large rifle clutched in his hands. Duncan was there too, kneeling beside Gwen, who was only half conscious. Brendan quickly sized up his odds, which did not look good. Alone he could take each of them down, but if they were together, he stood far less chance of gaining victory.

Aneka glanced at Duncan. "How is she?" she asked, looking back at her brother.

"She'll make it." said Duncan. "Several broken bones, possibly some internal injuries. We'll know more when we get her back to the hospital."

"Alright." said Aneka. She looked at Duncan and Chef. "You two get Gwen out of here, I'll handle this." She looked back at Brendan, who was smiling.

"No way!" said Duncan. "We're not leaving you to fight alone."

"Yes you are." said Aneka. "If you don't get Gwen out of here now, she might not make it."

"No." Gwen coughed. "I'll be alright. Duncan's right, you need the back up in case Drevis or Verizzano shows up." She she clutched her broken ribs and looked at Aneka, who nodded.

"Alright, but keep Gwen clear, she can't take any more punishment." said Aneka. Duncan nodded and helped Gwen over to Chef, who stood off to one side of the battleground.

Aneka turned her attention back to Brendan, who was still smiling. Aneka glared at her brother and raised her blade.

Brendan followed suit. "So, we have come to this have we?" he asked. "You're really going to fight your own brother for some useless bags of flesh? I never dreamed I'd see the day when my sister went soft. No matter, you will not stop me."

With that, he charged Aneka and swung, missing her by inches. Aneka spun around her brother avoiding his attack and launched her own. Brendan dodged as well, Aneka's attack missing him by a fraction of an inch. Duncan, Chef, and Gwen stared in amazement at the fluid movements of the two assassins. Their attacks would have killed anyone else, but they avoided each other like it was as easy as breathing. Brendan and Aneka stood staring at one another for a moment, before charging one another once again. Again their attacks missed their targets, but they were getting closer.

After several more minutes of trading positions, Brendan finally drew blood, slicing Aneka across the shoulder. "It's no use you know." he said. "I can read your every move, your every thought like an open book. You have no chance of beating me."

No sooner had he said this when Aneka connected with her next attack. "You forget brother, I can read your thoughts as well." she said, with a smile.

Brendan returned the smile and nodded. "So then, how are we to settle this?" he asked.

"The moment will come." Aneka replied. "One of us will slip, and the other will get the kill, it is inevitable."

"Indeed." said Brendan. He launched himself at her once again and once again Aneka dodged. She knew the battle would never end at this rate. They were both too good, the opening would never come, unless she made it herself.

After fighting for several more moments, Aneka shot a telling glance at Duncan, who read her instructions in her eyes. Aneka then lowered her blade allowing Brendan a free shot, which he gladly took driving his blade into Aneka's midsection. She gasped in pain, their eyes meeting, his full of triumph, hers betraying no hint of her plan.

"No!" Chef shouted moving forward, but Duncan stopped him. Chef read Duncan's glance and understood, Aneka had everything under control.

Brendan twisted the blade in his sister's abdomen, inflicting more damage. He smiled and looked into her eyes. "Looks like I found my opening." he said. "So ends Aneka DuVall."

Aneka smiled back at him. "Eh, what are you smiling at?" Brendan asked. As the words escaped his mouth, he realized Duncan was standing behind him. "What-?" Brendan asked, before Duncan decked him with a punch.

Brendan looked at his sister, eyes wide with surprise. "You-you tricked me?" he asked. Aneka nodded, pulling Brendan's blade from her midsection. She threw his blade at his feet and raised her own, her eyes full of sorrow.

"You should not be surprised, my brother." she said. "Trickery is part of an assassin's arsenal, you taught me that. I simply created my opening. By allowing you to strike, I gave Duncan the time he needed to get behind you."

"That you did." said Brendan, looking up at his sister. "You have always made me so proud Aneka. Know that even now in my death, I will always consider you my sister. I will always love you, may your destiny end differently from my own."

Aneka stared at her brother for one moment longer, before bringing her blade down, directly into his heart. She looked down at Brendan's body, tears running down her face. "I will remember all you taught me." she whispered. "And know that I will always love you too."

Aneka wavered and collapsed, Duncan catching her before she hit the ground. Chef and Gwen joined them, staring at Brendan's body. Duncan leaned down and closed Brendan's eyes, saying a prayer as he did so. He then stood and looked at the other three a moment before speaking what they were all thinking, "So ends Brendan DuVall."

**A/N: And that's that. One enemy down, two to go, or so the campers think. The war's not over yet and it's going to get a lot more bloody.**


	32. The Rebirth

The four of them arrived back at the hospital twenty minutes later. The others were there keeping D.J. company and waiting for the four to return. Trent saw the four approaching and went out to meet them. His eyes widened in shock when he saw them up close. Chef was carrying Gwen, who could not walk under her own power and Duncan was supporting Aneka. He met Trent's gaze, which asked his question for him. Duncan nodded and Trent helped them inside. Gwen was taken away for surgery and Aneka was bandaged up and put on pain medication.

Several hours later, the entire group gathered in D.J.'s room for the full story. "So, what happened?" Izzy asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Brendan is dead." said Duncan. "Aneka killed him in battle. Gwen went ahead without us and fought Brendan on her own, but he got the better of her. He was about to finish her off when we arrived and Aneka stopped him."

"Shit, I wish I could have been there to see that." said Geoff.

Duncan gave him an angry look. "Shut up." he snapped. "It wasn't the great glorious affair you think it was. Brendan was Aneka's brother, it wasn't easy for her to do what she did."

"But Brendan was a traitor, eh." said Ezekiel. "He got what he deserved."

Duncan looked at Ezekiel, but Aneka spoke before he could. "It's alright Duncan." she said. "Ezekiel is right, Brendan was a traitor and he did get what he deserved. I just never thought I'd be the one to deal that blow."

Duncan looked at Aneka for a moment before speaking again. "I am truly sorry that it had to be you. I wish that I could have taken that burden."

"No." said Aneka. "It's right that his life ended by my hand. Brendan would not have wanted it another way. He knew that the only one among us who would be able to give him the exit he wanted was me. It is fitting that it ended this way. Brendan taught me everything I know about the art of killing, and the most important lesson he taught me was an assassin lives by the blade and an assassin dies by the blade. He knew his life would end this way, it all comes back to what I told you when we first met, we all have a destiny and none of us can escape it."

The others sat in silence following this speech. None of them could think of anything to say. The death of one of their enemies should have been a cause for celebration, but it was quite the opposite. Brendan had been Aneka's brother, and her pain at having to kill him took the others out of a celebrating mood. Even D.J. could not find joy at Brendan's death. He had been so bent on revenge, so determined to see every trace of Brendan erased, that he had not taken the time to consider what would happen when Brendan was gone. Now that the moment had come and passed, D.J. felt a sense of regret. Surely there had been another way to handle this situation, a way that would have left both Brendan and Abigail alive. But D.J. could not come up with another answer, this had been the only way out. As this realization washed over D.J., tears began to roll down his face. He had lost the person he cared about most and now Aneka had too. It was in that moment that D.J. realized the violence would never end until there was no one left to kill. The cycle had to be stopped by someone and D.J. decided he would be the one to stop it.

The following day, the campers burned Brendan's body, laying him to rest like Thomas and Abigail. They stood, gathered around the pyre Aneka staring into the flames, tears flowing down her face. She felt a sense of emptiness, the same emptiness D.J. had felt at Abigail's funeral. For the first time in her life Aneka would be without her brother. Their entire lives they had been together, watching each others back, and now Brendan was gone. The world had changed yet again, another chapter coming to its end. The tragedy had changed them all and now they moved forward towards a new future, one even more uncertain then the one they had just lost.

Later that day, the campers were gathered at the hospital still coming to grips with Brendan's demise. "So, what now?" Cody asked.

"What do you mean what now?" Duncan asked, glancing at Cody.

"I mean, where do we go from here?" said Cody. "We still have Drevis and Verizzano to deal with. Do we have a plan of action on that?"

"Oh for shit's sake Cody." said Duncan. "We just laid Brendan to rest, can't we have a few goddamn minutes of peace before we jump back into war mode?"

"Gee, sorry." said Cody. "Excuse me for wanting to be prepared so we don't all fucking die. Unless that's what you want Duncan?"

Duncan was about to rise to Cody's comment when a blinding light flashed before his eyes. Seconds later, Duncan regained his orientation and noticed the others were just as disoriented as he was. He looked around the room, trying to discover the source of the flash when his mouth fell open in surprise.

"Ugh, Duncan what the hell was that?" Tyler asked. "Duncan, you okay? What are you-?" Tyler stopped in mid sentence as his eyes found what Duncan was staring at. The others looked over in the same direction and upon finding the source of Duncan's amazement, there were several gasps. Standing in the doorway were two of the most unlikely people, David Luminous and Abigail Locke.

Luminous and Abigail entered the room and chuckled at the reactions of the others. "Looks like you were right about their reactions, Miss Locke." said Luminous.

"I guess so." said Abigail, with another chuckle.

"What-what is this?" asked D.J. "Is this a dream?"

"No, I assure you Mr. Harris, this is all quite real." said Luminous. "It seems I have something that belongs to you. I am, therefore, pleased to announce that I am returning Miss Locke to you, reborn and in perfect condition."

Abigail walked over and kissed D.J. to convince him he wasn't dreaming. "That's right." she said. "I'm back and better than ever."

"But how?" asked Harold. "I mean, didn't you lose your one chance after your father's deal broke, just like the rest of us?"

"Yes, she did." said Luminous. "But I make the rules concerning death and this world still requires Miss Locke's services. She comes back to you now to help you turn the tide of this war in your favor. I will be going now, may your luck hold." He nodded and disappeared.

"Well, this is certainly a pleasant surprise." said Trent. "Welcome back."

"Thank you." said Abigail. She smiled at them all, glad to be back among her friends. They smiled back, overjoyed that Abigail had come back and content in the knowledge that they now had a clear path to follow once again.

**A/N: Oh yeah, that's right, Abigail's back among the living. I know this is yet another moment when I brought a character back from the dead, but soon you will learn why this was neccessary. Until then, I hope you enjoyed.**


	33. The Next Step

A week later the campers had still not gotten over their joy and disbelief following Abigail's return. D.J. in particular was still amazed every time Abigail dropped by the hospital to visit him. He and Gwen were still recovering from their battles with Brendan, and it would be a while before either of them was released. Luckily for them, they had each other for company when the others were not able to make it to the hospital. Aside from Abigail, who visited almost everyday, Duncan had begun spending a lot of time at the hospital. He seemed to feel a need to make sure Gwen was alright, since she no longer had Trent to check in on her.

When the campers were not keeping Gwen and D.J. company, they were busy preparing for the next assault by Drevis and Verizzano. They were well aware that the attack could come at any time and so they were devoting every minute that could be spared to the planning. The bonus of having Abigail back only served to intensify their desire for a sound battle strategy. As usual, Abigail, Aneka, Duncan, Izzy, Chef, and Noah were the primary planners, but everyone gave input, to ensure the plans were water tight.

A week and a half after Abigail's return they all met at the hospital so Gwen and D.J. could be part of the final discussion of the plans. Gwen and D.J. were happy to see all of the others, as they had not seen most of them since Abigail's return.

"Finally you all make it back down here." said Gwen, as the others entered the room.

"Sorry, we've been kinda busy." said LeShawna, giving Gwen an apologetic look.

"Yeah, I know." said Gwen, smiling to show she wasn't really upset. "It just sucks being stuck here, while you guys get have fun."

"Speak for yourself." said Heather. "Making plans for war is not my idea of fun."

"It is necessary though." said Bridgette. "We don't want to get caught off guard again."

"You got that right." said Gwen. She looked at Bridgette, who still wore a heavy brace on her right leg. "How's the leg Bridge?" Gwen asked.

Bridgette looked at her a moment before answering. "It's getting better, but it will still be a month before the brace can come off. How are you doing?"

"Good, I guess." said Gwen, looking at the casts that encased her left arm and right leg. "I'm alive, which is better than what could have happened, given who I was fighting." She glanced at Aneka a moment, but Aneka did not seem be offended by the mention of her brother. "Like I said, it sucks to be stuck here, but at least I can talk to D.J." She sighed and winced at the pain of her broken ribs. "In any case, how goes the planning?"

"Good." said Aneka. "We should be able to bring them down this time. That's why we're here actually, to discuss the next step forward in the plans."

"Let's here it then." said D.J. looking around at the others.

"Well, our plan is to get the drop on the enemy before they can get to us again." said Izzy. "Now, before you go questioning this plan, keep in mind that we have gone over every possible drawback, and we have come up with ways to get around them."

"So, we're gonna strike first this time and you've figured out ways to get around the problems that go along with that, is that correct?" asked Gwen.

"Pretty much." said Izzy. "Why, do you have a problem with it?"

"No, I'm just clarifying." said Gwen. "It sounds like a good plan to me."

"Okay, so we have the plan, now all we need to do is implement it." said Duncan.

The others agreed on a time to put the plan into action and then left, taking D.J. with them, as he wanted to get out for a little while. Duncan hung back to speak with Gwen in private. As soon as the others were gone, Duncan turned to Gwen, looking anxious.

"Gwen, we really need to talk." he said, staring into her eyes.

"About what?" Gwen asked, looking at Duncan with a mix of worry and suspicion.

"About us." Duncan said, casting a nervous glance at the door.

"What about us?" Gwen asked, still looking at Duncan suspiciously.

"Well, this isn't easy for me to say, but I love you Gwen." Duncan said staring at her.

"What?" Gwen asked. "What do you mean you love me?"

"Come on Gwen, don't play dumb." said Duncan. "You know what I mean. I love you, I always have."

Gwen stared at him a moment, shocked by this revelation. She and Duncan had always been close, but she had no idea that he felt this way about her. Truthfully, there had been a time when she had considered it, but she had been with Trent then and Duncan had been with Courtney. But everything had changed, perhaps Duncan was taking advantage of the situation. But that didn't make sense, he was with Aneka, unless he was just using her as a way to get to Gwen.

Gwen exhaled slowly before speaking. "Why are you telling me this now?" she asked.

"Because, you need to know." said Duncan. "You're alone, ever since you and Trent split, you've been suffering, I can tell. I just want to make you happy."

"Duncan, it's not that simple." said Gwen. "You're with Aneka and Trent and I are still friends, and I can't-" she stopped, not wanting to go on.

"Gwen, look at me." said Duncan. "It's okay, I understand if you don't want to hurt Trent."

"It's not that." said Gwen, tears glistening in her eyes. "I love you too."

Duncan was taken aback by this, he had not expected Gwen to say such a thing. "Gwen." he whispered. "I don't want to see you suffer, let me make you happy, let me take your pain away."

Gwen looked at him, the tears still falling and smiled. "Oh, Duncan I want to take your pain away too. I want to be with you, I want-" her sentence was cut short by Duncan's lips, as he leaned in and kissed her. For a moment they sat, their lips touching, and then they pulled apart. Gwen smiled and Duncan smiled back, the day had finally come, they were taking the next step in their relationship.

**A/N: Okay, I know some of you are going to give me hell for this, but I don't really care. Things are going to happen between Gwen and Duncan and there's not alot you can do about it. If you were hoping Gwen and Trent would get back together as well as Duncan and Courtney, don't get all upset just yet. I have a tendancy to change my mind at a moments notice so it might still happen. **


	34. The Joining of Gwen and Duncan

A week later the campers were still in a state of neutrality. There had been no word from Drevis or Verizzano, and the next attack did not appear to be immanent. They also had not agreed on a time to put their plan into action, which worried several of the campers, particularly D.J. and Chef, who were eager to end the war as soon as possible. However, the lack of action suited Duncan and Gwen just fine, as they were still trying to work through exactly where they were supposed to go after their chat at the hospital. Gwen was still confined to the hospital, so she and Duncan were unable to privately discuss the matter further. It was clear to both of them that they had feelings for one another, but the situation was not a simple one. There were several obstacles in their way, namely Duncan's relationship with Aneka. There were also Trent and Courtney to consider, as well as the rest of the group, who would have varying reactions to the news. It was this obstacle that worried Gwen the most, as she was certain the others would look at her and Duncan in a negative light. Duncan was not as convinced about this, but he was still hesitant to tell them too, mainly because he feared Aneka's reaction. Despite their reservations, both of them realized they would have to say something soon, the others would figure it out eventually.

Duncan decided to start with Aneka. He pulled her aside following another group meeting, intent on telling her the truth. Once they were out of earshot of the others Duncan spoke. "Aneka, I need to tell you something. I don't know how do say this, but-" Aneka held up a hand to silence him.

"I know." she said, looking into his eyes. "I know you've been seeing Gwen and I know you want to be with her." Duncan stared at Aneka, taken aback by her words. He had not expected her to know already.

"And you're okay with this?" he asked, after a moment of silence.

"Of course." said Aneka. "I've known your desire for some time now. I'm not hurt by this, trust me. You've always wanted to be with Gwen, you were just too afraid to admit it to yourself. You came to me, because I am, in many ways, similar to Gwen and you needed someone to understand your pain, because Courtney couldn't. I know you didn't end things with her because of hate, you did it because she was not the woman you truly loved, and neither am I. So, I release you, go and be with Gwen. Do what makes you happy."

Duncan stared at her for another long moment. "How do you know all this?" he finally asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I can read minds remember." said Aneka, smiling at Duncan's surprise. "I read yours, twice in fact, and discovered you true desires. It was invasive and I apologize, but I had to figure out why you would so abruptly end things with your wife."

Duncan knew he should be pissed about Aneka reading his mind and not telling him, but he was too awed by how easily she had gained information he would never have otherwise told her. He simply stared at her, trying to understand everything he had just been told.

"Duncan?" Aneka asked. "Duncan, are you alright?" He looked at her, snapping out of his reverie.

"Yeah, I'm good." he said, shaking his head.

"You should go to Gwen, let her know you're free." said Aneka, smiling. "I'll come with you if you want."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." said Duncan. "What about D.J. though?"

"It's fine, Gwen is alone." said Aneka. Duncan looked at her, and she smiled. "Abigail took him out for a while." she said. Duncan sighed and started walking, for a moment he had been convinced Aneka could see the future too.

They arrived at the hospital a few minutes later and entered Gwen's room. Duncan walked over to Gwen and kissed her full on the mouth. Gwen's eyes widened when she saw Aneka. "Duncan, what the hell?" she asked. "Aneka is here."

"It's okay Gwen." Aneka said with a chuckle. "I know the truth and I'm fine with it."

Gwen looked at Aneka and then slugged Duncan in the shoulder. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked staring at her.

"Next time let me know the person you brought with you is in on the secret before you go kissing me in front of them, you idiot." Gwen shouted.

"Okay, sorry." said Duncan, rubbing his arm. Aneka chuckled, grinning at Gwen. It was obvious to her she had made the right decision in letting Duncan be with Gwen.

Later that day Gwen and Duncan broke the news to the others. They were gathered at the hospital, waiting for the news Aneka had told them Gwen and Duncan had, a nervous anticipation in hanging in the air.

"So, what's this news Aneka told us all about?" Tyler asked. "Gwen's not pregnant is she?"

"No, I'm not." Gwen assured him. "We just wanted to make it official." She hesitated, giving Trent a chance to speak.

"Make what official?" he asked, certain he did not want to know the answer.

"Duncan and I are a couple." Gwen said, after hesitating a moment longer. Trent's eyes widened, Courtney looked away, and Chef cursed. The others just stood in dumbfounded disbelief.

"What the hell do you mean you and Duncan are a couple?" Chef shouted. "I thought Duncan was with Aneka?"

"I was." said Duncan. "We broke it off this morning."

"Well, uh, congratulations I guess." said Geoff. "You and Gwen, wow, that's just, wow."

"Why the hell are you congratulating him?" Trent snapped, glaring at Geoff. "There is nothing to congratulate him for."

"Shit, somebody ate their ass hole flakes this morning." said Duncan.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Trent shouted. "For once just keep you goddamn mouth shut. I never thought I'd see this. My wife and my best friend."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Big-shot." Duncan snapped. "You left Gwen, remember?"

"Only because you left Courtney first." Trent shot back. "If you hadn't betrayed your wife first, we wouldn't be in this position right now."

"Yes we would." said Duncan. "You want to know the real reason I left Courtney? I left her because of Gwen, because I love Gwen, a damn sight more than you do. I went to Aneka, because I didn't have the balls to admit the truth to you all then, but I do now. Gwen and I have something we could never get with you and Courtney. We have an understanding, a shared destiny. We're alike, Gwen and I and that is what connects us. We don't sneak around, hiding how we truly feel, and we'll be together for a lot longer than you ever were."

"But you do sneak around, hiding how you truly feel." Trent countered. "This is the first time any of us are hearing about this. Why is that, I wonder? Is it because you were afraid of telling us or is it because you two think your family doesn't have a right to know what you do?"

"Oh, shut the hell up, you self righteous bastard." Duncan snapped. "This is why we didn't tell you, we knew you'd react this way. But there's nothing you can do about it, Gwen and I are together and if you don't like it you can blow it out your ass."

"Fine." Trent spat. "Be a couple, see if I care. But know that I will never support either of you ever again. Not even in the heat of battle, I'll just leave you to die." With that, Trent stormed out of the room, followed by Courtney and most of the others, none of whom had made a comment on this development. Soon only Abigail, D.J., and Aneka were left with the new couple.

"Just so you know, we fully support this joining." said D.J. "The others will get over it. Things change, and they just have to accept that."

"Thanks D.J." said Duncan. "So here we are, the joining of Duncan and Gwen. Not quite what we expected, was it?"

Gwen shook her head, but inside she knew it had gone exactly as they had expected it to.

**A/N: Okay, that's that. Now, I just want to make a couple things clear, for future reference. First off, I'm getting really tiered of people bitching about how big an asshole Duncan is and the decisions he's made. If you've watched the show, you should already know he's an asshole. And, just so everyone is on the same page about this, what happened between Duncan, Courtney, Gwen, Trent, and Aneka, happened. It's in the past, there's nothing that can be done about it now, so accept it! And remember, like I said last chapter, I have a habit of changing my mind, so things may work out for the better, you just have to be patient.**


	35. The Gathering Storm

A new era had begun for the former campers, an era many of them had long believed would come. Gwen and Duncan were a couple, and while the others knew they should be happy, there was a sense of uneasiness among them. Something about this new pairing just didn't sit right with the others. Trent's opinion was clear, but the others were still unsure what to think. D.J., Abigail, and Aneka had pledged their support to Gwen and Duncan, and Bridgette, Geoff, LeShawna, and Harold were inclined to lean that way too. Heather, Justin, Noah, Ezekiel, and Chris were leaning more towards Trent's side, but they had not made up their minds yet. Izzy, Owen, Chef, Katie, Sadie, Tyler, Lindsey, Eva, Cody, and Beth decided to remain neutral on the whole issue, not wanting to start an internal war. The strangest reaction was Courtney's, who seemed to be ignoring the whole thing, pretending neither of them existed.

All things considered, Gwen and Duncan's decision could not have come at a worse time. The campers had finally received their ultimatum from Drevis and Verizzano. The storm was gathering on the horizon, and the campers were more divided than they had ever been. It seemed as if this whole thing had been planned, as a way to turn the campers against one another, making them vulnerable to attack. If this was indeed the enemy's plan, it was working perfectly, but there was one amongst the campers who saw this flaw and was determined to fix it. Four days after Gwen and Duncan's relationship became official, Cody called the group together. Once everyone was present, Cody fixed them all with a piercing stare.

"Alright." he said. "I know that there are some issues that have risen recently that we don't all agree on, but we have to put these things behind us. We've been given an ultimatum by the enemy and if we hope to have a chance of winning this war we must stick together."

"You raise some good points Cody." said Justin. "But how are we supposed to work as a team when we continue to stab one another in the back?" He threw a disgusted look at Gwen and Duncan. Duncan glared back at him.

"Look, I'm not saying I agree with what Gwen and Duncan did, or what Trent or Courtney or Aneka did for that matter, but it doesn't matter." said Cody.

"That's were you're wrong my friend." said Ezekiel. "It does matter. It means they're not trustworthy, eh."

"So we arrive at the real issue at last." said Duncan. He stared directly at Ezekiel before continuing. "You think Gwen and I are untrustworthy do you? Well I ask you Ezekiel, who the fuck made you the judge of our personal decisions? What Gwen and I do doesn't affect you or anyone else here, except her and me."

"Another incorrect statement." said Noah, cutting in before Ezekiel could respond. "Everything any of us do affects all of us. You should know that better than anyone Duncan, you're the one who laid down the guidelines for this family, remember?" Duncan glared at Noah, but said nothing.

"Look, Noah's right." said Gwen. Everyone looked at her, surprised. "All of our actions affect all of us, but we cannot let these kind of things drag us down. I'm not going to defend or explain my decisions, but I will say this, change happens. It is a part of life, and sometimes it is necessary. What happened between me and Trent, between Duncan and Courtney happened. It's over now and I believe it happened for a reason. There is nothing that can be done about it now, so we need to put it behind us and focus on the future, our future, and how we're going to stay alive."

"No, I can't accept that." said Heather. "You and Duncan have broken our trust too many times. How are we supposed to trust you now?"

"I'm not asking you to trust me." said Gwen. "I'm asking you to join me the final battle against a common enemy. Surely you can put aside your feelings and make an alliance. Unless you want us to fight as separate groups, in which case we will all be slaughtered like cattle."

"At this point, that would almost be a more favorable option." Justin muttered.

"Yeah, you think so, pretty boy?" snapped Duncan. "Well if that's how you feel, why don't you go and find Drevis and ask him to kill you. You're useless anyway."

"Blow it out your ass, you arrogant criminal." Justin replied.

"Alright, that's enough." said Abigail. "I have heard enough of your bullshit, all of you. Do you not understand what we are facing? Are you all so blind that you will willingly throw away friendships that have kept you alive for so many years? Cody is right, none of this matters. I have been betrayed more than once in my life, and I am still willing to trust people. If you really are the family you claim to be you will shut up and work this out or you don't deserve to call yourselves a family. We are facing an enemy more terrible and more powerful than anything you have yet experienced, and we cannot defeat it with an every man for himself approach. If you want to keep your lives, and I truly believe you do, you will work together or you will die, and I will just watch."

The others stared at Abigail for what seemed like an eternity following her speech. Finally Courtney spoke, "Alright, we'll work together." She looked around at the others, who each nodded to confirm they were in agreement.

"Good." said Abigail. "May this be the last time you let such petty bullshit get between you. You have something truly special, you cannot afford to let worthless arguments destroy it."

Meanwhile, Trent, who had not been at the meeting was wandering aimlessly through the streets. He had not returned to the hotel after leaving the hospital four days earlier, and had no intention to. Seeing Gwen with Duncan had awoken something in Trent, something dark that he could not get rid of. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't want to. He had embraced the darkness and now all he wanted was to see Gwen and Duncan suffer.

Trent knew exactly how to go about this, but he was not sure if he wanted to go down that road. He was not sure if he could live with himself if he allied with Drevis and Verizzano, but it was the easiest answer. Finally, after many hours of brooding Trent made his decision, he would contact the enemy and offer them his services.

Trent met Drevis and Verizzano in the park, not far from the hotel. Drevis smiled as Trent approached, knowing exactly what he wanted. "I hear you are looking to betray your friends." Drevis said, looking at Trent. "Is this true, Mr. McKenzie?"

Trent hesitated a moment before answering. "Yes, it is true." He did not look at Drevis as he spoke, choosing to stare at the ground instead,

"You are quite certain you wish to do this?" Verizzano asked. Trent nodded. "Any particular reason why you feel compelled to betray your family?" Verizzano continued.

"I can no longer live with them." said Trent, looking up at the two of them. "They have destroyed my ability to trust humanity. My best friend and my wife, together, behind my back. I don't expect you to understand, but it's too hard to continue to trust them." He paused, swollowing the bile rising in his throat and continued, "I wish to join you in your quest to destroy them."

Drevis smiled broadly at Trent's words. "You wish to save yourself by offering up your friends on a silver platter. It is commendable of you to do such a thing, but how do I know you have not been sent to spy on us?"

"I assure you, I came alone, under my own power." said Trent. Drevis nodded, seemingly content with Trent's response.

"Then I ask only one thing of you." said Drevis. "Kneel and swear allegiance to the darkness." Trent did as he was told and after swearing his allegiance rose and faced the other two.

"You understand that by taking this oath, you have sworn yourself to a lifetime in the service of the great Drevis, Lord of the Darkness?" asked Verizzano. Trent nodded.

"Then welcome my brother." said Verizzano. "Welcome to the Shadow Guild."

**A/N: Oh yeah, I did it. I made Trent a traitor. Betcha didn't see that coming, did you? What does Trent's betrayal mean for the others and will they be able to defeat Drevis? Check back later to find out! Oh and by the way, only 5 more chapters to go!**


	36. Trent's Betrayal

Unaware of Trent's actions the others moved forward with their plans for the final battle. They were sticking with plan they had come up with weeks earlier, getting the drop on the enemy before the enemy could get the drop on them. However, there was a problem, as no one had clearly defined what getting the drop on the enemy was supposed to entail. Several of the campers, particularly Gwen, were worried that this lack of concreteness would come back to bite them in the ass. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything better, so they were forced to go with this plan for now. Izzy and Abigail were working on another option, but they had yet to arrive at any decent conclusions.

As for Gwen, there was something else bothering her as well. Due to her injuries from her fight with Brendan, she would not be able to help out in the final battle. The thought of something happening to any of her friends while she was not there to help them made Gwen very uncomfortable. She was not certain she could deal with any more pain, and was terrified something would go wrong. The others did their best to reassure her, but no matter how many times they said it was all in her head, Gwen was still convinced she was going to lose one of them to this war. There was one other thing worrying Gwen, something she could not entirely explain. No one had seen Trent in the last three days, and Gwen was beginning to worry something had happened to him. She finally mentioned her fears on the fourth day following Abigail's lecture.

"Has anyone seen Trent recently?" Gwen asked, looking around at the others.

"No, why?" Harold asked. The others each shook their head in turn.

"I'm just worried about him, that's all." said Gwen. "It's not like him to just disappear."

"Still have feelings for him, do you?" Heather asked, her tone mocking.

Gwen glared at her. "No, I just want to know he's okay." she snapped.

"Why?" Owen asked. "He made it pretty clear how he feels about you now that your with Duncan. I'm not sure if he cares what you think anymore."

"Gee, thanks Owen." said Gwen. "That really makes me feel better. I really don't care if he wants me to think about him anymore or not. Trent is still a part of this family and we should all want to know what's up with him."

"I think Gwen's right." said Duncan. "True, Trent is a total douchbag, but it is kinda odd that we haven't heard from him. He wasn't at our last meeting, and for all we know he's been captured by Drevis or worse."

"Oh, I didn't think of that." said Owen. "Sorry for being an ass."

Gwen smiled at him. "It's okay Owen. I understand why you think that. Truthfully I have no desire to look at Trent right now, but that doesn't mean I want him dead. I think someone should go look for him, make sure he's okay."

"I agree." said LeShawna. "Harold and I can go, if no one else wants the job." The others agreed and LeShawna and Harold set out to find Trent. What none of them knew was Trent had already met with Abigail, Aneka, Chris and Chef and told them of his betrayal. The four had been shocked by Trent's news, but they had done nothing to stop him. If he wanted to be their enemy, he could be their enemy, it was his choice to make. However, Aneka did implore him to reconsider his decision, stating it would be in his best interest to stay with his friends. Trent had thanked her for her words, ensuring her that he was making the right decision and then he had left.

Several hour later Harold and LeShawna returned without Trent. They were met by Duncan and Geoff, who were not surprised to see them return without him.

"No luck huh?" Duncan asked. Harold shook his head, staring at the ground.

"We looked everywhere we could think of." said LeShawna. "We even checked the warehouse district, couldn't find him anywhere."

"Shit." said Duncan. "Gwen's not gonna be happy. She's really worried about him."

"He's gotta be out there somewhere." said Geoff. "I mean, he can't have just disappeared into thin air, right?"

"I don't know dude." said Duncan. "With all the weird shit we've seen since the reunion, I would say anything is possible."

"Let's head inside." said Harold. "Fill the others in, although it's pretty obvious we failed."

The others nodded and followed him inside.

Two weeks later, outside the city in a hidden base, Drevis and Verizzano were putting the finishing touches on their plans for the final battle. Trent sat with them offering helpful tidbits on the other campers. Drevis smiled in satisfaction every time Trent did this, happy to have an enemy insider on the team. All around them, shadows moved, the shadows of men loyal to Drevis. The campers were in for a truly nasty surprise, as Drevis had assembled an army the likes of which they had never seen.

Several hours later, Trent slipped out of the base under cover of darkness and headed in the direction of the hotel. On his way there, he ran into Tyler, Cody, and Justin who had gone out on another search mission. Trent froze, staring at his former friends, unaware that they were looking for him. The other three stared back and for a moment no one moved. Then, without thinking, Tyler approached his hand raised in greeting.

"Hey Trent, what's up man?" Tyler asked. "Where have you been dude, we've been worried about you?" Trent didn't answer, he just continued to stare.

"Trent, you okay dude?" Tyler asked. "You look kinda pale."

"You shouldn't be here." Trent said, his voice harsh.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Justin asked. "Trent what's going on?"

"Didn't they tell you?" Trent asked. "Didn't you ask Chris or Chef for the truth?"

"Truth? What truth?" Cody asked. "Trent your not making sense, are you on drugs or something?"

Trent laughed a cold, merciless laugh, quite unlike his normal happy chuckle. "Fools." he said, a grin crossing his face. "I don't answer to you anymore, I don't play your stupid games anymore."

"What?" Tyler asked. "You are on drugs, aren't you? What do you mean you don't play our games anymore?"

Before Trent could answer, the truth hit Cody. "No." he said, staring at Trent. "No, Trent you didn't, you wouldn't."

"I did." said Trent, his twisted smile widening. The color drained from Cody's face as the horror truly set in.

"Wait Cody what's going on?" Tyler asked, glancing from Trent to Cody and back again. "What did he do?"

"He's betrayed us." Cody croaked. "He's joined Drevis and Verizzano."

"That's ridiculous, why would he do such a thing?" Justin asked. "Don't be an idiot Cody, Trent would never betray us, would you?" He turned to Trent, who was still smiling.

"No Justin." he said. "I would betray you, if had reason enough." Justin's eyes widened and Tyler's jaw dropped.

"Trent do you know what your saying?" Tyler asked. "Do you know what this means for you? If you've betrayed us your gonna die."

"No, I'm not." said Trent. "But you are." With that he drew a gun and aimed it at Tyler's head. He smiled and fired.

"NO!" Cody shouted, throwing himself in front of Tyler. The bullet struck him in the ribs and he hit the ground with a thud. Tyler and Justin both drew guns, returning Trent's fire, but they were unable to hit him.

Trent rolled behind a parked car and fired several more shots, grazing Justin's shoulder and Tyler's side. After another moment or two, Tyler grabbed Cody and he and Justin took off. Trent did not pursue them, as he had more important things to do.

Moments later, the three arrived back at the hospital. The others met them staring in shock when they saw the blood. "What the hell happened?" Duncan demanded.

"T-Trent." Justin gasped, as he tried to catch his breath. "Ran into Trent and he shot at us."

"Wait, you found Trent?" Bridgette asked. "Where has he been?"

"Look, Cody's bleeding pretty bad over here." said Tyler. "Let's get him taken care of and then we'll explain everything."

A short time later, they were all gathered in Gwen's room, awaiting Tyler and Justin's report. "So, what happened?" Duncan asked. "You say you found Trent and he shot at you?"

"Yes." said Justin, not looking at Gwen, who wore a look of pure horror.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Beth asked. "Why would Trent try to harm his allies?"

"Because we're not his allies anymore." said Tyler. "Trent has betrayed us, he's joined Drevis and Verizzano."

A deafening silence followed this statement and then Duncan asked, "Are you certain?"

"He admitted the truth to us." Tyler said, hanging his head.

"It's not possible, it's just not possible." Gwen muttered. "Why would he betray us? Why would he do it?"

"He said something about having reason enough." said Justin. "I don't know what that means though."

"I do." said Duncan. "It's because of me and Gwen, because we're together. You guys were right, this relationship was the wrong thing to do. We pushed Trent over the edge and now he's joined the enemy."

"No, Duncan." said Heather. "We had no idea this would happen. It's not your or Gwen's fault. It's all of ours. We didn't see the pain he was in following his and Gwen's breakup and now it's too late. If we had just payed more attention, maybe we could have-"

Her sentence was cut short as a massive explosion shook the walls of the hospital. The campers looked outside and saw a massive army standing outside the hospital, the burning wreckage of an ambulance behind it. Standing at the front, the wind whipping their hair about were Drevis, Verizzano, and Trent.

**A/N: Sorry about the chaotic time jumps in this chapter, I know they're annoying. I just didn't want to drag shit out, you know? Anyway, there is a reason why so much time passed between the initial search for Trent and the scene in Drevis' hideout, but you'll have to wait till the next chapter to find out.**


	37. The Shadow Guild

The campers stared in horror at the army gathered before them. It was larger than the army they had faced during the war with Dorian, and yet, somehow, it seemed smaller than they were expecting. It also looked different than they were expecting. The soldiers gathered with Drevis, Verizzano, and Trent were dressed in black, but Verizzano's soldiers usually wore red. The only explanation any of them could come up with was, these weren't Verizzano's soldiers. But if that was true, then who were they?

Duncan glanced at Aneka and she read his question in his eyes. "They are the Shadow Guild." she whispered. Duncan's eyes widened and he looked back at the army, suddenly much less confident. He stared at Trent, unnerved by the sight of his best friend standing beside the greatest enemies his family had ever faced. Tyler and Justin had been right, Trent had betrayed them. Duncan had hoped the other two had just been messing around, but they had been serious.

Several more tense moments passed before Drevis finally moved forward, a twisted smile on his face. "Why so frightened?" he asked, surveying the campers through his dark eyes. "Surely I am not the cause of your fear. Could it be my army then? Or possibly it is dear Trent, who has been so valuable these past two weeks." One of the black clad soldiers chuckled at Drevis' joke. Drevis' smile widened and the hints of one formed on Verizzano's face as well.

The campers said nothing, until Beth stepped forward. "Why are you playing these games with us?" she asked. "If you want to kill us so bad, why not just get it over with?"

"So eager to die are you Beth?" Drevis asked. "Well I promise you, your death will soon be at hand. You have twenty four hours, then the final battle begins. Meet us at the warehouse, you know which one, and we will end this once and for all." He smiled once more and then he, Verizzano, Trent, and the soldiers disappeared.

The campers looked at one another, terror on many of their faces. None of them seemed to be able to speak, except for Duncan, who broke the silence with a question.

"That was the motherfucking Shadow Guild?" he asked, staring at Aneka and Abigail, who both nodded.

"What the fuck are they doing with Drevis and Verizzano then?" Duncan asked. "I thought you said they went rogue?"

"They did." Aneka answered. "But there were rumors of someone controlling the guild from the outside, apparently they were true."

"Well that's just spectacular, just fucking great." said Heather. "I thought once you left the guild you were supposed to be hunted down, or is that not true?" She eyed Aneka and Abigail, who looked at one another before Abigail answered.

"Technically that rule applies, but Drevis and Verizzano were very powerful and influential members of the guild." she said. "They could, and it seems they have, gained control from the outside."

"And how would they do that?" Katie asked, casting a nervous glance around the room.

"By killing the leader of the guild." Aneka replied. "It's not easy but it has been done before. Now that I think about it, the leader was found dead three years ago, but I didn't think it was Drevis at the time."

"Would the other assassins know they were being controlled from the outside?" asked Noah, with a worried look on his face.

"No, they were probably kept in the dark until just a few weeks ago." replied Aneka. "There was most likely a puppet leader and I know who it is."

"How?" Sadie asked. "How would you know something like that?"

"The man who chuckled at Drevis' joke," said Aneka, "that man is Dreden Shalev, the current leader of the Shadow Guild. That is how I know."

"You're kidding right?" said Geoff. "That dude is the leader of the Shadow Guild?"

"Do not underestimate him." said Abigail. "Dreden Shalev is a very dangerous man, a highly skilled assassin and an expert of many forms of combat. He could kill you before you had time to blink." She nodded to show she was serious.

"So, the Shadow Guild has been controlled from the outside this whole time, Drevis is the one controlling it, and the puppet leader is a super killer too." said Duncan. "Is there anything I missed?"

"No, I think you pretty much got it covered." said Abigail, as she looked around the room.

"I still want to know one thing." said Bridgette. "If the guild was being controlled by a rogue assassin who no longer maintains loyalty to them, why did they all join Drevis? I mean, wouldn't there be some sort of opposition to this?"

"No, the members of the Shadow Guild are bound to it's leader." said Aneka. "We must do what the leader wants, whether he is a member of the guild or not. It is the power of the blood oath we swear when we join the guild."

"Wait, when you say we, what do you mean?" D.J. asked, looking at Aneka nervously.

"As I stated when Verizzano first attacked, I am still a member of the guild." Aneka replied. "Even now I feel the pull of Drevis' will, I've been feeling it since this began. But I can fight it, despite the blood oath, it is possible to ignore the leaders commands."

"Aneka left out one thing." said Abigail. "There are most likely a few members of the guild who despise Drevis' control. I plan on getting one of them to help us."

"What are you, insane?" Chef asked, staring at Abigail. "Do you want to get killed again?"

"I will be fine." said Abigail. "Brendan got lucky and I will be taking Aneka with me."

"But why do you have go?" D.J. asked, looking from Abigail to Aneka.

"Because it is necessary." said Abigail. "We need a third assassin on our side if we are to be successful in killing Drevis. There is a way to do it, but it requires three assassins, and since Brendan is gone, we need to collect a third."

"Don't worry D.J." said Aneka. "Nothing will happen to her, I promise you."

D.J. nodded and Abigail and Aneka left. The others sat and tried to absorb all that they had just learned. Trent was now their enemy, the Shadow Guild was under Drevis' control, there was some mysterious means of killing Drevis, and the final battle was in less than twenty four hours. It was the most pressure they had been under since their first day at Camp Wawanakwa.

A few hours later Abigail and Aneka returned with a young man, who looked nervous to be in the presence of the TDI campers. The campers looked him over once, deciding that he was trustworthy.

"Everyone, this is Anthony Bell." said Abigail. "He is a friend of mine from my time in the Shadow Guild and he has agreed to help us."

Anthony smiled and waved and the campers returned the gesture. There was an uncomfortable silence, which was quickly broken by Duncan's next question. "Wait, you were in the Shadow Guild?" He looked at Abigail, surprise written on his face.

"Yes, I was." she replied. "Many years ago. It's how I met Aneka actually. I joined to gain the knowledge I needed to extract my revenge on Dorian for killing my mother. I was only in the guild a few months, maybe six or so. I found I didn't like the structure of the organization, it was too formal, I guess. Anyway I left, but I never forgot the friendships I made there."

"Wow, you weren't joking when you said Brendan got lucky, were you?" D.J. asked.

"Actually I was, he was a better assassin than me, but I can take care of myself." Abigail replied, with a chuckle.

"You certainly can." said Anthony. "Training with you always left me in an immense amount of pain." Abigail laughed again, and the others joined in to ease the tension. It was obvious that there had been a romantic connection between the two, and that they were trying to keep it hidden, now that Abigail was with D.J.

The campers spent the few remaining hours making last minute adjustments to the plan. Finally the time came and they headed down to the warehouse district, heading for one warehouse in particular, the warehouse where Katie had died. As they approached, a shiver ran down Katie's spine, as the memories came flooding back. Sadie's reaction was similar, though a little less noticeable. They rounded the corner to the backside of the building and found the enemy waiting for them.

The army was indeed larger than they had seen at the hospital. Drevis, Verizzano, Trent, and Dreden Shalev stood at the front of a massive group of Shadow Guild assassins, Verizzano soldiers, and Verizzano's cyborg monsters. Drevis smiled and made one quick statement, "To the victors go the spoils of war." He then charged, followed by his army. The campers braced themselves for the impact, Duncan smiling as he aimed his gun. The final battle had begun.

**A/N: So here we are, the moment we've all been waiting for. The final battle is upon us. Who will emerge victorious and will the campers ever be the same again? Find out in the exciting three part conclusion of the second war. (BTW, that means there's only 3 chapters left).**


	38. Desperate Measures

More than three hours later the battle still raged, more brutal and intense than any of them had anticipated. This clash far outpaced the final battle with Dorian in terms of its violence. The campers had started out on the right foot, taking out a massive swath of Shadow Clone assassins and soldiers. But the tide of battle had quickly turned against them and the confidence they had at its outset had all but completely vanished. None of them had fallen to death, but they were still worn out and near collapse. Without a change in their luck, they would most certainly begin to succumb to death which Duncan realized as he ducked into one of the warehouses finding Aneka and Anthony waiting for him.

"Damn it, we're getting eaten alive out there." Duncan muttered. "I can't believe how many of these bastards there are."

"That's the Shadow Guild for you, my friend." said Anthony. "They are not going to give you an inch."

"I know that." Duncan snapped. "I just didn't know how many of there would be. I thought the guild was supposed to be exclusive?"

"Well, yes, technically it is." said Aneka. "But with a man like Drevis in charge, the exclusivity takes a back seat to his goals. Drevis doesn't want an elite force of highly skilled assassins, he wants an army, and he certainly has one."

"Hooray for us." said Duncan, rolling his eyes. "I would really rather deal with a few assassins, hell of a lot easier than a fucking army."

The other two nodded and the three launched themselves back into the battle. Duncan split from the others, heading down towards the water. As he ran, he caught flashes of the carnage around him. Soldiers and assassins lying strewn across the ground, Chef taking down a stalker with a sawed off shotgun, Abigail engaged in one on one combat with Dreden, Izzy weaving in and out of the crowed taking down enemies as she went, and Courtney lying in a pool of blood, but whether it was hers or someone else's, Duncan was not sure. After a couple of minutes, he reached his destination, where Drevis, Verizzano and Trent stood, surveying the battle.

Duncan approached them cautiously, not wanting to draw their attention. But his stealth was not enough. Trent spotted him and before Duncan knew what had happened he was on his back, a searing pain in his chest. Duncan glanced down and saw that his shirt was soaked with blood, but he could not figure out why. He looked up at Trent, who was standing a few feet from him, a blade held in his hand, blood dripping off the tip. Duncan pushed himself into a sitting position and then pulled himself to his feet, keeping his eyes on Trent.

Trent smiled and raised his blade. "You didn't really think you could sneak up on us, did you Duncan?" he asked, his tone mocking.

"Get bent you traitor." Duncan snapped. He knew Trent was trying to get him to rise, to do something stupid, but he wasn't about to fall into a trap. Duncan realized the blood on Trent's blade was his, though how Trent had moved so fast he had no idea.

"You call me a traitor, but I wonder, what do you call yourself?" Trent asked, his smile widening at Duncan's anger.

"I may have made some mistakes, I won't deny that." said Duncan. "But I didn't sell my soul to the devil just because I couldn't deal."

"Fuck you." said Trent. "You betrayed me, you stabbed me in the back. You were my best friend and you took everything from me and now I'm going to return the favor."

Duncan stared at Trent a moment before he realized Trent was looking past him at someone he couldn't see. Duncan spun and saw Courtney standing a few yards away, watching the confrontation between him and Trent. He looked back at Trent, his eyes pleading. "Don't you dare, you bastard." he growled through clenched teeth.

Trent smiled again and then charged past Duncan. Duncan spun again, staring at Courtney as Trent approached her. "Courtney move!" he shouted, but he was too late. Trent plunged his blade into Courtney's midsection before she had time to react. "COURTNEY!" Duncan screamed.

Courtney gasped in pain as Trent's blade sliced through her flesh. Her eyes stared into his, asking the question he could not answer. He did not smile, he did not mock, he simply stabbed and removed the blade, and then disappeared before anyone else could get to him. Courtney stood for a moment, staring at the spot where Trent had stood, before falling.

Duncan caught her before she hit the ground, staring her in the eyes. "Courtney." he said. "I am so sorry for what I did. I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to do anything to destroy you, it all just happened and I'm sorry."

"I know." Courtney whispered, staring into his eyes. "I am too." Courtney's eyes closed and her muscles relaxed. She drifted, but did not enter the ether, her desire to live to strong to let her leave the living world. Duncan carried her to the far side of the battlefield where Gwen and Bridgette were stationed, due to their inability to get involved in the battle directly. Duncan lay Courtney on the ground next to Gwen, who smiled at him. He smiled back, but it was a smile clouded by the pain and stress of war.

They had now reached the twenty four hour mark. All of the campers were still alive, but they were exhausted beyond all belief. As Duncan turned away from the three injured, Drevis' voice boomed out across the battlefield. "Why don't we take a break." he said. "Give you a chance to regroup, I want you fighting at optimum levels when you die."

Under normal circumstances the campers would have refused such an offer, but given the situation they agreed. "You will have twelve hours to rest, take advantage of them." Drevis' voice boomed again.

"Yeah, we will." Duncan muttered, as the others joined him, Gwen, Bridgette, and Courtney. "We will do more than you think we will."

"So I'm thinking it's time to employ some desperate measures." said Izzy.

"I was thinking the exact same thing Iz." said Duncan. "We can't win this thing if we keep going like this. We need to take out Drevis and Verizzano in one blow, or they're just gonna keep throwing fire at us until we burn."

"Well I think I have a solution." said Anthony. "I was brought into your family to help you out and I have an idea that will work." Aneka and Abigail looked at him, both of them knowing what his plan was, as it was their plan too.

"And what would this idea of yours be exactly?" Heather asked, looking at Anthony.

"It's called the Three Seals of Death." Anthony said, with a smile. "It is an ancient assassin technique that traps an enemy in a field of energy which then tears their body apart."

"Ooh that sound cool." said Izzy. "How does it work?"

"Three assassins are needed to activate it." said Aneka. "Brendan, Abigail, and I were going to use it, but, well you know. Anyway, each assassin opens a different seal, which combine their energies to create the field Anthony described. We will need to get Drevis trapped in the center, with the three of us positioned at equal distances from one another. We then activate the seals and that's that. Once your in the energy field, there is no escaping."

"Sounds good." said Chef. "But what about Verizzano? How are we going to deal with him?" He looked around at the others for an answer.

"I have an idea actually." said Izzy. "Well actually Noah, Cody, Eva, Harold and I have an idea, but still, it's there. We want to trap Verizzano in the warehouse, you know which one, and then blow it up. We have the explosives and the trigger, all we need is a way to keep him in there."

"I can help you there." said Aneka. "I'll place a Seal of Holding in the center of the building. All you have to do is make sure he gets on to the seal and you'll have him. Once he's in there, he won't get out."

"Alright, then let's get to it." said Duncan. "Let's show these fuckers they messed with the wrong bunch of reality TV stars." The others laughed at Duncan's joke and then set to work, knowing that if these plans failed, it would be the last time they would ever laugh.

**A/N: Alright, so there you go. The violence has begun. And see, I wasn't lying when I said I could change my mind on the Duncan/Courtney relationship. But exactly how their going to live with each other you'll have to wait to find out. Buckle up for safety people, there's only two chapters left and this sucker's going out with a bang!**


	39. The Costs of War

Twelve hours later Drevis resumed the battle, just as he had promised. The campers returned to combat with renewed confidence, their plans in place. Harold, Noah, and Cody had spent the break wiring the explosives they would use to kill Verizzano. Aneka had placed a Seal of Holding in the warehouse and all that was left to do was set the explosives. Aneka, Abigail, and Anthony were also prepared to unleash their Seals of Death when the moment came. Despite their confidence, the campers had to tread carefully, as they did not know if Drevis or Verizzano had been watching.

As the battle resumed, phase one of the plan went into action. Izzy, Noah, Harold, Cody, and Eva headed for the warehouse to install the explosives. The plan would work like this, Cody, Harold, and Noah would enter the warehouse and begin setting up the explosives. Izzy would wait outside with the detonator, and when given the signal, would blow the warehouse sky high. Eva's job was to insure that no one took out Izzy or got into the warehouse. Since the warehouse was rather large she would need to periodically check the entire area to ensure no one was sneaking in from the other side of the building.

The five arrived at their destination. Izzy looked at the others, a serious look in her normally playful eyes. "This is it guys." she said. "We have one shot at this, we have to get it right. If Verizzano escapes here, we won't get another chance to kill him."

Noah nodded. "Alright." he said, with a glance at Eva. "Let's get to it."

He, Harold, and Cody entered the building, leaving Eva and Izzy standing at the entrance. Cody trailed the wires connecting the explosives to the detonator as he entered. Once the guys were inside, Izzy turned to Eva and revealed the most important part of the plan.

"When the time comes, I want you to lure Verizzano in there." Izzy said.

Eva nodded, but she had one question to ask. "What about you? If I go off to lure Verizzano, I leave you unprotected."

"Don't worry about me." said Izzy. "I'll be okay. No one is going to take me out before I get to see Verizzano go up in flames."

Inside the warehouse, everything was going according to plan. No enemy soldiers had appeared and it seemed the enemy was unaware of the plan. However, something about the lack of enemies had Harold worried.

"I got a bad feeling about this guys." he whispered, looking at the others.

"Why?" Cody whispered back. "There's no one here Harold."

"Yeah, that's what bothers me." said Harold. "You'd think that there would be at least a couple soldiers in here, even if they were unaware of our plan."

"Well, apparently there's not." said Noah. "So let's keep moving so we can get out of here."

Harold shrugged and the three started moving again. Ten minutes later they had the whole building rigged. They headed back towards Izzy and Eva's position, when a noise made them freeze. Harold glanced around the room trying to find the source of the noise, his eyes finally coming to rest on the north entrance of the warehouse. There, standing in the doorway were at least twenty of Verizzano's soldiers. Harold's eyes widened, as did Noah and Cody's.

"Shit." Cody muttered. "Looks like you were right Harold."

The soldiers approached the three, their guns raised. The leader stepped forward and looked Harold in the eye. "What are you doing in here?" the soldier asked.

"Nothing." said Harold. "Just scoping the place out." He stared intently back at the lead soldier, determined not to show weakness. Behind him, Noah passed a gun into his hand. "Um, we'll just be going now okay?" said Harold.

The lead soldier looked at him a moment longer before signaling his men to fire. Noah pushed Harold to the ground, taking a bullet in the shoulder in the process. Cody returned fire, striking one soldier in the head, before diving for cover.

"Shit, shit, shit." Harold snarled. "That was not part of the damnable plan."

"You think?" Noah shouted, pulling Harold over to Cody's hiding place. He pulled out a walkie talkie. "Eva get your ass in here, we're under attack." Noah bellowed.

A bullet glanced off the chunk of mangled metal behind which the three of them were hiding. "Shit, if they take out the wire, the plan's fucked." said Noah.

"Then we just have to make sure they don't." said Cody with a smile. He popped up and fired off a quick volley of shots, taking down two more soldiers. As he ducked back down he caught sight of one of the soldiers, who had a fifty caliber Barret aimed right at them. He heard the click of the gun loading and then the boom as it fired.

"Oh shit, move!" he shouted, grabbing the other two and pulling them away, just as the fifty cal shell exploded through their cover.

"Holy shit!" Harold shouted. "What the fuck was that?"

"They have a goddamn Barret." said Cody. "How did they get a hold of a Barret?"

"Who knows." said Noah. "We don't have time to figure out where our enemy gets their weapons. We gotta take these guys out and where the hell is Eva?"

"Um, not to be all unhelpful, but just how are you planing to take these guys out?" Cody asked, staring at Noah.

"I plan on using the explosives." said Noah. "We just gotta get Verizzano in here. We could really use Eva's help though." He pulled out the walkie talkie again and bellowed into once again. "Eva, where the fuck are you?"

"I'm a little busy at the moment." Eva's voice replied. "Please stop yelling at me."

"Busy doing what?" Noah asked, glancing at Cody and Harold.

"Trying to lure Verizzano to the warehouse." Eva's voice replied.

"What?" Noah bellowed. "What the hell are you doing that for? You're supposed to be protecting Izzy."

"What did I say about yelling?" Eva's voice snapped. "Izzy told me to lure Verizzano. She's got everything under control."

"She'd better." said Noah. "If she gets hurt or killed, Owen's gonna skin us alive."

"Yeah, well that's the risk we all take." said Eva's voice. "I gotta go, Verizzano's spotted me. I'll be at the warehouse in five."

Sure enough, five minutes later, Eva came running into the warehouse, followed closely by Verizzano. Eva headed for the center of the room, diving to avoid Aneka's seal, which Verizzano walked right into stopping him short.

"What? What the hell is this?" Verizzano asked, looking around at the campers.

"Seal of Holding mate." said Noah, with a triumphant smile.

"Impossible." said Verizzano. "Only an assassin can cast such a seal. You do not posses this power, so who was it that helped you?" Noah looked at him, his smile widening. Verizzano read the answer in Noah's eyes. "Ah, of course. She was always so resourceful, Aneka DuVall. Pity she has to die for her betrayal."

"To bad you won't be alive to see that." said Noah. "You're done for Victor, we got you, you bastard." He smiled again and raised his walkie talkie again. "Iz, you listening?"

"Yeah, I hear ya Noah." Izzy's voice said. "What's the news?"

"We got him." said Noah. "Verizzano's in the seal. Just let us get out and you can blow this thing away."

"Roger that." said Izzy's voice, a gleeful edge to her voice.

The four headed for the exit, ignoring the remaining soldiers, who were too dumbfounded by their master's capture to do anything. The four reached Izzy and she smiled at them.

"Well here goes." she said. "You may want to plug your ears." She took hold of the detonator, her thumb hovering over the button. Izzy looked at the detonator and whispered, "So ends Victor Verizzano." She then pushed the button, but the expected explosion did not happen.

"What the hell? Where's the boom?" Izzy asked, looking around at the others, who were all staring at her with looks of confusion. Verizzano's laughter echoed out from within the warehouse followed by the laughter of his soldiers.

Izzy sank to the ground in despair. They had failed, Verizzano was still alive. He was trapped, held by Aneka's seal, but the seal would not hold forever. The others looked down at Izzy, feeling her pain and frustration. She had been so sure this plan would work, so sure that they could take Verizzano out, and it hadn't happened. "Izzy, we tried. That's all that can be said." said Eva. "Maybe we weren't meant to kill Verizzano."

"No, I don't believe that." said Izzy, standing up. "We didn't come this far to quite now." With that, she began walking towards the warehouse, the detonator still clutched in her hands.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Harold asked, staring at her.

"I'm making sure this plan wasn't a failure." Izzy replied, turning to look at them. "I'm making sure Verizzano burns. I will not be known as a failure. Don't try to stop me, this is a war and in war there are prices that must be payed, sacrifices made for the greater good." She smiled at them and walked into the warehouse, sliding the door closed behind her.

Izzy walked over to the first explosive, which had been separated from the detonator, causing the short that had prevented the explosion. She knelt and reattached the wires, then stood and faced Verizzano. Verizzano smiled at her and she smiled back. Izzy then pressed the button and tossed the detonator into the air. And then she ran, heading for the exit closest to the water.

Verizzano watched her as she passed him and then he looked skyward, spreading his arms wide and closing his eyes as the explosion engulfed him. Izzy dove out the water side exit as the last of the explosives went off, the resulting shock wave throwing her into the water with tremendous force. She hit the water and then everything went dark. She sank beneath the surface, her life leaving her for the last time.

On the other side of the warehouse the other four watched as the building went up in flames. "IZZY!" Eva screamed as the flames shot out over the water. Eva ran towards the burning building, but Noah and Cody stopped her.

"It's to late Eva, she's gone." said Noah, tears in his eyes. "She knew what she was doing and she died the way she wanted to."

Standing on top of the next warehouse, Trent watched the entire scene. "Farewell Izzy." he whispered. "I am sorry that you had to die for us to achieve victory, but as you said prices must be paid. There are always lives that must be taken for the greater good, this is the cost of war."

**A/N: Well, there you go. One enemy down, two to go. It's all come down to this people, the end of the war is here. Only one chapter to go, so stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of the second war.**


	40. To Kill a Demon

The campers had finally struck a decisive blow in the war, but it had come at a heavy price. Verizzano was dead, but so was Izzy. She had sacrificed herself to ensure Verizzano was defeated. Eva, Noah, Cody, and Harold were left with an empty feeling in their souls following the explosion. They had succeeded but they now faced the difficult and unpleasant prospect of telling Owen his wife was dead. It was not something any of them were prepared to do, but it had to be done.

"How are we gonna break the news to Owen?" Cody asked, looking at the other three.

"I don't know Cody, I don't know." said Noah. "However we do it, I think it best if we wait until after the war is over."

"Agreed." said Harold, glancing at the still burning warehouse.

"But why not tell him now?" a familiar voice asked from behind them.

The four turned to find Trent standing a few feet from them, a smile on his face. "Doesn't Owen have the right the right to know the truth now?" he continued, his tone mocking.

"Why do you care?" Eva snapped. "You betrayed us, you bastard. Why do you care when we tell Owen anything?"

"Oh, trust me Eva, I don't care." said Trent. "I simply wished to point out that you would be better served telling Owen now. That's all."

"I have an idea, why don't you shut up and blow it out your ass." Eva growled, glaring at Trent. "Why don't you go crawling back to your demon friend since he obviously means more to you than Izzy did."

Trent smiled and turned to leave. Before he did however he left the four with one final bit of information. "You know, you shouldn't mourn Izzy's sacrifice just yet. It may be that her death is the catalyst for your eventual victory. Keep that in mind as you move on from this moment." He smiled one more time and then disappeared.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Cody asked.

"Who knows." said Noah. "Trent is a traitor, he was probably just pulling some bullshit out of his ass to confuse us. Anyway, lets go regroup with the others."

The other three nodded and the four of them moved off towards the far side of the battlefield, intent on telling Owen only when they were ready.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the rest of the campers were waging bloody war against Drevis and the Shadow Guild. A few of Verizzano's soldiers were mixed in as well. The fight had picked up exactly where it had left off when Drevis had given the campers a break. The campers were still losing, and finding it increasingly more difficult to hold back the enemy forces. The plan to kill Drevis was still set, but in order for it to work, Abigail, Aneka, and Anthony had to get close to him, and right now that seemed impossible.

Duncan, Geoff, and D.J. were fighting a group of assassins down by the water, and were making some progress, but it wasn't enough. "Damn it!" Duncan growled. "We're never gonna get through to Drevis at this rate. There's too many of these fuckers."

"We gotta keep trying though." said Geoff, as he shot an assassin in the head. "If we don't give Abigail, Aneka and Anthony the chance to implement their seals, we're all gonna die."

"I think we're all gonna die anyway Geoff." said Duncan, as he took down another assassin.

"Come on Duncan, don't think like that." said D.J. "We'll get through this. You heard the explosion, which means Izzy and the others got Verizzano. That means we only have one left. We can do this, we survived Camp Wawanakwa and Dorian's war, so we can survive this too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." said Duncan. "If only we could clear these assassins out quicker. It would make winning this thing a lot easier."

At that moment the three heard a scream from somewhere behind them. "That was Gwen!" said Duncan, a look of terror in his eyes. With a quick glance at the other two he took of in the direction of Gwen's scream, hoping she was okay. He arrived at her location to find Dreden Shalev baring down on the helpless Gwen. Bridgette was lying on the ground next to the injured Courtney, blood pooling under her head.

Duncan sized up the situation quickly and decided he could take Dreden. "Hey, fuck face, why don't pick on someone your own size." he shouted. Dreden spun, forgetting about Gwen and stared at Duncan.

"Yeah, why not." Dreden said, his tone mocking. "You shouldn't be much of a challenge."

"That's what you think, you prick." said Duncan. With that, he charged Dreden, knocking him to the ground. Dreden rolled and tossed Duncan to the side, drilling him in the ribs in the process. Before Duncan had time to react, Dreden was on top of him, connecting with several hard shots to the face. Duncan threw an elbow into Dreden's face, momentarily stunning him. But Dreden recovered too quickly for Duncan to capitalize on his shot and had Duncan on the ground again in seconds. Duncan managed to get back to his feet, but Dreden nailed him with a roundhouse kick that knocked Duncan back down. After several more hard shots, Dreden drew a gun and aimed it at Duncan's head.

"Told you weren't much of a challenge." Dreden said, as he squeezed the trigger. Gwen screamed again as the gun went off, but Duncan did not fall. He and Gwen both looked at Dreden, who had blood flowing from a hole in his head. Dreden stared at them a moment longer, before collapsing, dead before he hit the ground.

"What the hell?" said Duncan. "Who the hell shot him?"

As if on cue, Trent emerged from behind a stack of barrels. He had a gun in his hand and a smile on his face. He looked at Duncan a moment before walking over and helping him to his feet. Duncan stared at Trent, to shocked to speak. Was this really happening, was Trent really helping him?

"Uh, um, what's going on here?" Duncan finally asked. "I thought you were on Drevis' side now." He looked at Trent again trying to read his face.

"I am." Trent replied. "Or at least you're supposed to think I am."

"What?" Gwen asked. "Trent what are you talking about? Are you telling us you've been on our side this whole time?"

"Yes." Trent replied. "I have been working as a double agent of sorts, feeding information on Drevis to Aneka and Abigail." He was silent for a moment before continuing. "I really was going to betray you. I was so pissed off after you two got together that I wanted you to die. I went to Drevis and Verizzano and pledged my allegiance to them, but Aneka, Abigail, Chris and Chef got to me and convinced me not to help the enemy. They convinced me to work as a double agent and I agreed. I have been loyal to the group this whole time and I am sorry for any pain I have caused."

Duncan stared at his former best friend, hardly daring to believe what he had just been told.

Trent had been on their side all along, so why had he attacked Tyler, Justin and Cody? Why had he stabbed Courtney? Why had he kept it all a secret?

"So, let me get this straight." said Duncan. "You've been on our side this whole time and yet you shot Cody, you stabbed Courtney, and you kept it all a secret from us. How do I know this isn't all a load of shit? How can I be sure that you're telling the truth?"

"Honestly, you don't." said Trent. "But I trust that your instincts will lead you to the right conclusion. If you really are as smart as I think you are, you will see that I am telling the truth."

Without waiting for Duncan's reply Trent walked over to Bridgette and Courtney to make sure they were okay. Bridgette's head injury did not appear to be serious and Trent knew he had missed Courtney's vital organs. He looked up at Gwen, who was staring at him with a mixture of mistrust and surprise on her face.

"How are they?" she asked, after a long moment of silence.

"They'll be okay." Trent replied. "Whatever Dreden hit Bridgette with, it didn't do as much damage as he hoped it would."

At that moment, Geoff and D.J. showed up at the scene. D.J. spotted Trent and threw himself at the musician, knocking him to the ground. D.J. heaved Trent off the ground and hurled him at the wall of the nearest warehouse. Duncan caught D.J. before he could do any more damage.

"No, D.J. don't. He's on our side still." Duncan said, holding D.J. back.

"What?" Geoff asked, looking from Duncan to Trent and back again. "What do you mean he's still on our side?"

"He's been working as a spy this whole time, he never betrayed us." said Duncan.

"That's bullshit, it has to be." Tyler's voice shouted, as he and the others joined them. "If he was on our side, why did he try to kill me, Justin and Cody?"

"To maintain his cover." said Chef. "If you want proof of Trent's loyalty then here it is." He tossed a packet of papers at Tyler. "This is all the information Trent has passed us on Drevis over the last few weeks. He was our spy and he was reporting to me, Chris, Aneka, and Abigail every other day. If that's not proof enough, than I don't know how else to convince you."

Tyler and the others looked at Chef and could read the truth in his eyes. Trent had never betrayed them. It was reassuring to know that he was still on their side.

"Well, well, well. It seems I need to pay better attention to who I trust." came Drevis' voice, making them all turn. Drevis stood staring at the campers, a mad gleam in his eye. "So, you betrayed me Trent. I cannot honestly say that I am shocked by this, however I regret to inform you that you must now die, just like your friends."

"That's what you think." said Aneka, as she popped up out of nowhere on Drevis' left side. She wore a smile on her face and held something in her hand.

"And just how do you plan on stopping me, Miss DuVall?" Drevis asked.

"With our help." said Abigail, as she and Anthony appeared next to Drevis as well. "Are you guys ready?" she asked, looking at the other two. Aneka and Anthony nodded and the three of them activated the seals. "Watch closely everyone, this is how you kill a demon." said Abigail, as the energy of the seals began to wrap around Drevis.

Drevis' eyes widened as he knew exactly what this was. "The Three Seals of Death." he breathed. "Very good, very good indeed." Drevis screamed in pain as the energy began to rip his body apart. Drevis was finished, but he would not go by himself, if he was going to die this day, he was going to take someone with him. He reached out and a claw like structure shot out and grabbed Anthony, pulling him into the seal.

"No, Anthony!" Abigail shouted. She moved to help him, but he held out a hand to stop her.

"No Abigail, stay where are." he said. "I am gone. I am glad I got see you one last time before I died." Anthony smiled as the energy began working on him too. After a moment there was a massive burst of light and the seal dissipated, leaving no trace of Drevis or Anthony.

The campers stared at the spot where the seal had been opened, silent as the realization washed over them. The war was over, Drevis was dead. They had won, once again they had survived impossible odds and come out on top. After a moment of silence they erupted into cheers, but not all of them were happy. D.J. placed an arm around Abigail's shoulder. "I'm sorry about Anthony." he whispered.

"No." said Abigail. "Anthony's death is tragic, but he went out the way he wanted to. I am grateful that he got the chance to make a difference before he died." D.J. held her close, overjoyed that she was here to experience this victory with them.

In the midst of the celebration Noah, Eva, Harold, and Cody walked up to Owen who, despite the celebration, had a worried look on his face. "Where's Izzy?" asked, looking at the four.

The others fell silent at the looks on the faces of Izzy's team.

"Guys, where is my wife?" Owen asked, more forcefully this time.

"She-" Noah began, but he stopped, not sure if he could tell them the truth.

"She didn't make it." said Harold. The others stared at her in disbelief.

"What happened?" Beth asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"The explosives didn't go off, there was some sort of problem with the wires." said Harold, his voice hollow. "Izzy went in to fix the problem and then she set the explosives off. She didn't get out. We checked the area, and there was no sign of her. I'm sorry Owen, Izzy is dead."

Owen stared at Harold for a moment before breaking down. The others stood in silence their heads bowed in reverence. The one thing they had thought they had avoided had happened, one of their number was gone, never to return.

The next day Aneka met with Duncan and Gwen to give them more bad news. They could both tell from the look on Aneka's face that her news wasn't good.

"What's wrong Aneka?" Duncan asked, looking at her with intensity.

"I'm leaving." Aneka replied. The other two stared at her a moment as her words sank in.

"What? Why?" Duncan asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"I can't stay here." said Aneka. "There is too much pain, too many bad memories and I need to get away from them. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. It was really nice to have met you." With that, she turned and left the room. After a moment Duncan followed her.

"Aneka wait." he called as he ran down the hall after her.

Aneka turned and stared at him. "My mind is made up Duncan. I'm not staying here."

"Please don't leave." Duncan begged. "We need you, I need you. I can't do this alone."

"Duncan you have an entire family to aid you." said Aneka. "And you don't need me, you have Gwen, who will be a much better partner for you in the long run."

"No, I still need you." said Duncan. "You don't have to go. We can work out whatever issues we have."

Aneka smiled and said. "Of all the people I have known in my life, you Duncan Reynolds are the most interesting. Take care of the others." She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead and whispered, "Goodbye Duncan." Aneka then turned and walked out of the hospital, leaving Duncan standing alone in the lobby.

**End of Part 1**

**A/N: Well, there you go kids, the end of another fic. I am extremely sorry for the wait. I was having problems with my computer and it took me a while to get them fixed. I hope you all aren't too annoyed with me. Also, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoyed. I'll begin posting part 2 sometime this week.**


End file.
